


Itiner: The Lost

by SieghardtTheStoryTeller



Category: Alternate Reality - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SieghardtTheStoryTeller/pseuds/SieghardtTheStoryTeller
Summary: A strange unseen darkness fills the world with an ever powerful force of change. A group of friends struggle to grapple with their new found reality. In this nothing is safe from corruption of the truth of the realms, even the most "innocent" have turned into the most dangerous. Safety lies in the distance on another planet, however many forces loom to stop anyone from reaching it even the closest of allies.





	1. Those Who Live

Prologue  
Days For The Child Of Men 

 

Five years ago

 

The air staunches with death and dread I can feel it with a drifting sense of awakening. I slowly open my eyes with the glaring hazel numbers of 4:30 directly labelled on my clock atop a white night stand that lays to the right of my bed. I grumble as I slowly exhale a sigh of exhaustion and lift my blankets off me with the shifting of my sheets. I gather my white button-up shirt with pentagram on the left pocket, black pants, and my pair of socks and head toward the bathroom down the hall. Through the hall darkness seeps like shadows dancing to the melody of the dead. I drift into a daydream as I take a shower and let the room fill with the warm air of relief and relaxation. Once I finish my shower I dry my hair and put my clothes on with a slow calming effort almost in a daze as I think about the possible homework I had forgotten to do the night before. Upon finishing preparing for the day I put on my rings and necklaces. A ring of pure black, one of pure silver, one of pure gold with a skull marking death, and the final ring being silver with a sapphire that gleams with the shine of ocean water. Necklaces follow the designs of the shirt matching the design covered in symbols of different meanings. 

 

I look in the mirror to find a figure with brown hair with streaks of blonde in their hair as if the very strands were the golden lights of the sun in early morning. This was me a person with confidence yet uncertainty who never knew just what they could do without a group of friends to support me. I left and headed back into my room to put on my black trench coat and my boots forming my appearance with the cold breath of mother nature waiting for me outside. I check my backpack to assure that I had all my binders and homework then put on my gun ,and knife holsters under my trench coat just for safety. I had a sense of unease I felt in the morning air one I could only describe as danger. 

 

Upon exiting my house I felt the grimly air freeze my skin and chill my breath into a vibrant mist. As I walked to my destination though my own personal the gates of hell I listen to my personal favorite band Songs for the Tea Party of the Dead. Eventually reaching the school I head straight to the library as the winds graced my steps into the doors I saw my group of friends. As I approach them I take out my headphones and acknowledge their greetings.

 

First to greet, is Val with her short blonde hair and welcoming smile. She wears a jacket of brown like the color of caramel with a shirt of bright white like a burning sun which matched her pants just as bright. With her glasses embroidered with the design of royal patterns gracefully stretching across the sides. She wore earrings of silver that reflect with her style of glee.

 

Second, Kendall who always keeps an open heart with an open mind. Her hair is full of curls with a smooth refined path forming into the locks of grace. Her chestnut colored hair seemed to match the sweet aura of happiness that surrounds her. She wore a dress for her cosplay of a pirate. Intricate skirt which rippled like the waves of a sea and colors of deep maroon and calming azure blue.

 

The next two to meet , Luna and Lindsey, wore a very diverse style from each other yet complimented each other fashionably. Lindsey one of dirty blond hair and clothes which reflected her secluded yet comfortable lifestyle. Flannel of red and black to pants of black with a necklace of a heart with alluring colors varying in colors of blue. Luna wore a more upkeep and prompt style with her hair curled in sections like rows of waves. She wore a white button up shirt with a design of a cat to match her black skirt and black tights.

 

Hope who always kept a good confidence wore her hair with a curl like a bowl cut as her beach sand colored hair drifted around her. She wore a pink jacket with a white shirt with the design of her latest anime obsession. She wore jeans with a print of a bedazzled smile face to match her upbeat smile. 

 

Last two but not least were Britt and David who matched with a gamers outfit. Both wore black shirts with Portal 2 references and blue jeans. On this morning they wore black jackets to prevent each other from freezing from this sudden winter wave. They always kept a good conversation going and never let others feel down no matter what issues they are suffering from. 

 

Their conversations with fellow classmates filled the air as I entered the room capturing some of their gaze only to lose it shortly after. With a sarcastic tone I approached them and claimed “So who woke Satan today, I wanted so much to sleep and not have to collect the souls of my fellow classmates”

 

“Guess I have been caught red handed haven’t I?” Chuckled Lindsey.

 

“Eh I guess it’s for the best wouldn’t want school getting boring now would we?” I chuckle. 

 

The bell for our first class filled the air with a tone of waning dread as fellow classmates shuffle to their classes. I head toward my first class by heading across the campus and waving to groups of people who kept greeting me. As I made it to the 200 building for my first class I sighed and watched as my breath crisped into a white mist. Suddenly a scream shattered the morning silence and felt my instincts lead me toward it.

 

The screams continued as I got closer toward the front of the school to watch a crowd of people come out of the building with blood drenched on their clothes. After them came a duo of what looked to be students with movements that seemed to echo a puppet controlled by strings. I pulled out my hunter's knife from my sleeve and sprinted between them making sure I stabbed the one to the right in the neck and sever their head from their body. Their head hit the floor with the sound of a bowling ball ramming a wall as I continued running through the hall filled with screams and blood as more of these bewildering beings were feasting on the bodies of students already dead. Upon arriving to the class I was certain Val, Hope, Kendall, and Lindsey were in I was stopped by a door sealed shut. Calling out to them while knocking on the door to see if they were safe only got me more silence. I pulled my backpack off and pulled out a pistol and shot the door handle off and was greeted upon opening the door by an infected student grasping me.

 

With the unexpected jump I was stunned for a second but reacted by kicking them off and shooting them to the ground then executing them with a shot to their head. To my surprise I found the friends I had been looking for were safe inside the room in the corner. With a sigh of relief I went over to check on them.

 

“The hell Chase?!” Lindsey exclaimed “Where the hell did you get a gun from?”

 

“Who says a little security from the patriarchy can't be possible” I jokingly reply “Besides if I didn’t have the gun you would probably be in with the other dead students.”

 

As I handed knives and pistols to them I stated “Something has obviously happened so we need to stay together we are going to go find the others stay behind me and keep quiet I don't want to risk unnecessary encounters”

 

“Got it but what if we do encounter people?” Val asked.

 

“We kill them” I coldly claimed “It’s them or us in this chaos”

 

I quietly shifted into the hall checking both directions before signaling the others to come over. We silently shifted out of the building making sure to hold our breaths and keep our ears sharp. I lead them toward the furthest building as we called it the T-Building. As we arrived an explosion bursted on the second floor and as the dust cleared we could see Britt grasping the floor keeping her from falling. David could be heard further in trying to keep the door closed from those trying to get in. 

 

“Lindsey come with me Kendall, you and Val go to the parking lot and get a car I don't care how just have one ready for us to go.” I ordered with urgency. 

 

They agreed and headed off toward the parking lot as we ran toward the doors on the bottom floor. I opened the doors and Lindsey lunged at the first of the newfound enemies. I quickly entered and decapitated three to four more as we made our way toward the stairs up to the next floor. Unexpectedly I got my foot caught by the hand of one of them and shouted toward Lindsey to help me. Upon seeing me she pulled out her pistol of brilliant silver embroidered in velvet. Aiming with a smirk on her face and the posture of a natural killer she got a double kill shooting through the skull of the undead she had been preoccupied with and into the one that had me grasped. As she ran over and grabbed my arm to pick me up to my feet she made the most haste she could and headed back towards the stairs. I ran after her and as she made toward the top of the stairs an undead classmate had been ready to grab her ,however I had my knife prepared and threw it at its head dropping it to its knees causing it to roll down the stairs passed us. 

 

When we reached the door with our friends on the other side we could see five undead classmates were trying to get into the room as if they were being followed by a killer. Me and Lindsey with sparks bursting around us made our way toward the room. They saw us and began running towards us and from then on it seemed like we were in slow motion. Lindsey made the first move with a knife to one of their skulls and shoved her other hand with the gun into another's throat and pulled the trigger. I pulled out another throwing knife and threw it into the skull of the undead running toward me and using their body as a shield I pushed the remaining two against a wall. I took two knives and shoved it through their eyes and braced for the blood that filled my clothes and covered my face. This was what we have become.

 

“Do you think this is murder ,Chase” Lindsey stated “Or rather an execution?”

 

“This is our survival” I replied.

 

Lindsey headed toward the door and got David to open it as I dropped the zombies out of our way. 

 

“Help!” Britt called out with Luna holding her up but slipping slowly off with her.

 

Me and Lindsey headed toward Britt and pulled her up and upon our success happiness filled the air. Hugs were warm and comforting to the new found reality that had been laid out in front of us. We made our way out the doors and found ourselves with a new face. It was Hope in a Semi truck and our friends in the trailer. We all greeted and eventually got on our way when the undead began noticing us. Hope and Val waved to us from the truck as we got into the trailer and closed the doors sealed shut. The dim blue lights inside flickered seeming to fill the newfound room with a sense of horror. This is what we had become and this was what our world had become. Kendall who opened the windows of the trailer looked in horror at what had become of our once peaceful life. Fires reached into the skies and filled the air with smoke. It had seemed that the police force had begun its attack but we had gotten away before they could get to us for better or for worse.

 

“Why is this happening” Kendall questioned with fear.

 

“Simple it’s the way we are getting punished whether by nature or by God somehow we play a part in this” Britt replied with a cold voice. 

 

“But this does not mean this is the end” I continued “Now that we have begun our strike we must deal the last blow as well or else we will become what has become of our fellow classmates”

 

Brie walked toward the window with us to see our new way of life. Britt, David, Lindsey, and Luna all joined us in our view. Our Elegy. Our Fate. Our Beginning. It is all going to change and soon we will begin the great journey. We knew not what we had in storage for us but we did know that our lives were now going to enter a war.

Chapter 1:  
Those Who Live

Rain filled the air with the smell of fresh life and the trees that surrounded us sang the song of prosperity. Ever since the Incident we had made our way to the woodlands of Yellowstone. I sat on a branch of a high tree that shadowed our trailer under it like an umbrella protecting a rock. I could hear the rain hit the trailer like a rhythm of a drum in a concert. Thunder echoed the wrath of the storm flashing across the earth like a glow with a vengeance. 

“Chase! Come in it’s dangerous to be out here at this time” Britt screamed from below. 

Sighing I got on my feet and jumped off face first towards the ground. The air grazed my face as I plummeted like a rock through water. Once the ground was approaching too closely I grabbed a branch that drooped over Britt and dropped behind her.

Startled, Britt exclaimed “Don’t do that my god that’s not safe”

“When of all times have I been safe?” I chuckled waving and running into the trailer.

As I entered Val looked at me with a glare “You were supposed to go get our food and make sure Brie got to her raid run safely”

“Don’t worry so much I got the food right here” Taking my bag off and throwing it on the crates we had stacked full of supplies “As for her I shouldn’t have to baby walk, we are no longer in such nice ways of life.”

“Your such a hopeless cause for a teacher” Val sighed and began cleaning the kill from the bag.

The room in the trailer filled with sounds of the rain and smelled faintly of whisky. I opened a crate with vodka and grabbed some glasses and sat at a table with a texture of old wood. We had made this our home filled it with wooden furniture of a log cabin with the trees. The room lit like a cabin home the sides of our trailer were now one way windows that we refined to be bullet proof so that our lives were better and more like the old home we used to have. I drank the glass of vodka and as I felt it go down with a burn of pain; I thought about all we had known. During the lost time we had we discovered our parents were either dead or disappeared before we had reached them. Now we lead our lives the best we can as a giant family. I plugged in my headphones and leaned my head back in my chair as old songs began melodies to remind me of simple days. 

I awoke to darkness in the trailer and took out my earphones. The silence was piercing almost too quiet not even a late night cricket. I grabbed my sword and armed my guns and carefully opened the door outside. The moon lighted the forest like a lamp making even the dullest of flowers glare like fireworks. I began walking north toward the lake and began hearing noises and eventually a gunshot. I picked up my pace and started running. The closer I got I began to realize something had gone wrong. Screams filled the air of fighters trying to keep their ground and noticeably screams of unfamiliar voices. 

Once I broke out of the forest I pulled out my pistol and threw a knife into the back of an unfamiliar figure. Their yelp was sharp and they fell to the ground and I gained the attention of the raiders. 

“What do you want!?” I demanded.

“Chase, no they-” Britt yelped.

“So you're the Liege of Black ,huh, I expected you to be a little more intimidating” the raider laughed with a husky voice. 

“Who hired you obviously you’re here for something and not many people call me by that name anymore” I glared.

“Oh trust me boy that's of little concern after all we got you surrounded” the raider laughed.

I looked around to see they had restrained the others to a tree all unconscious. Britt was the only one awake but she was at gunpoint from what seemed to be an interrogation session. This was an inescapable scenario or should it have seemed.

“You really should know your environment before you just come charging in” I said with a cold voice “I sure hope your boss paid you enough for what you're about to experience”

“No, Chase you can’t we haven’t discovered how much that can affect you-” Britt exclaimed.

“Don’t worry a little rush can’t hurt” I said confidently

The raiders all laughed and began raising their guns. Their perverted appetite for murder was clear in their eyes the greed for kills was greatly part of their actions. I could sense it ,but they couldn’t sense just what it was that made us “special”. A secret we had all formed to keep men like them from using us like weapons and slaves against this new war in society or what was left of it. I could feel the sweat drip from my forehead as the gravity of the situation settled onto me just how screwed we were if I couldn’t end this right. 

I grinned “ Euphoria” 

The skies illuminated blue and in a swift burst the nearby trees expanded and froze in place as if they had been turned into water and exploded. Through shock the raiders began to shoot in a panic as if they were five year olds seeing the monster under the bed walking toward them. I could feel it every bullet the ones that shattered and cut my veins, my heart, my spine, my brain. Each felt like a stab of a thousand needles endlessly without remorse. The pain making my gut wrench and twist almost making me feel like purging my last meal. Blood dripped off my arm like coursing rivers in a forest.

“Is that all?” I laughed a little with spitting out blood “I’ve forgotten just what it is like to use this ability”

My body began ejecting the bullets and surrounding the holes began to form tattoos with the designs of spell runes, glowing a vivid azure blue almost like a grimly coldness of winter. My right pupil shifted into a noticeable amorphous design . Chuckling I lunged at the leader through incomprehensible speeds and gashed my arm through his mouth puncturing the back of his throat. I could feel the inner demon take over as I licked my fingers of his blood. The flavor seemed to make my adrenaline go faster the feeling of the rush almost like a drug is for an addict. My smile becoming that of a devil I dashed to the next three with a knife drawn cutting one of their legs gashing another's eyes with my thumb and snapping the neck of the third. Their screams of agony vanished just as quick as they had appeared. My body began to feel as if it was no longer in my control with my vision going blank. Once I had regained control I awoke to my body covered in blood and bodies lying on the floor and the blueness of the sky vanishing.

“Is it done” I whispered to myself in disbelief.

“I tried to warn you not of what would happen to you but what would happen to them and the responsibility placed on you after it” Britt began walking over “We are the only ones that know so far that we have a hidden power in each of us”

“ I know I acknowledged that but it was either you or them” I said in a broken voice.

“Regardless, all they know is that they fell unconscious in the ambush earlier let’s keep it that way” Britt claimed.

“What should I do about the bodies then” I questioned.

“Throw them with the others and make sure to incinerate it this time” Britt said coldly.

“Will do” I replied.

Britt began walking to the tree and taking them to the trailer as I began collecting the bodies in a pile. I pulled their bodies as they shifted the grass and blood dripped across the floor. I could feel their dead weight from the corpse of which they now became. I doused their bodies all with oils and placed some sticks around them. Tilting my head I recited prayers of peace then lit them with a match.

A scream was heard behind me in the forest. I twisted and ran into the forest and soon began to notice someone had been running from our location. Another scream soon echoed and I caught up to them as they struggled in a group of vines. A child was what had been running from me. They had seen me with my power and our code was to never get caught and any witnesses had to be killed. 

“I am sorry child but you have seen too much” I took out my blade “This is what you must endure”

“No, Please I beg you don’t” the child wept.

As I got closer the child broke free from the vines and began running again but it was foolish they were bleeding. I walked with a cold step each making the child's screams echo more and more through the forest but a vain hope it was. Eventually I got to a clearing to a cliff and the child began to back toward the edge. 

“Stop right there!” a stern voice commanded

“Well,well if it isn’t the little knight coming to save the children” I chuckled “You should know where not to stick your nose Hope, It's been a few years”

“Britt may not know that I am well aware of you two becoming part of those hellish contracts but I am sure as hell not afraid to fight her” Hope retorted.

“Oh now are you?” Britt claimed holding a greatsword to Hope’s neck “How much are you willing to bet”

A stern silence filled the air like the war cannons had just finished a null victory. Val, Lindsey, and Luna could be heard in the forest searching for us as if we were missing. From the forest near us emerged men in suits fitting to S.W.A.T. members.

“I didn’t think I would have to bring a horde of bandits to fight you but it looks better that I did” Hope glared at Britt.

“I knew someone like you would disregard the lives of their friends” Britt reclaimed.

“How dare you make an accusation like that, as if i am the one who started this fight” Hope growled.

“Did Brie ever return ?” I asked suspiciously.

“Not as far as I know” Britt stated.

“Then who is that” I pointed into the trees where there beamed lights of red.

The beams looked still almost shadowy with stares as cold and stationary as crows waiting for a corpse. The startled S.W.A.T. began firing and running toward the unidentified personnel. Soon filling the air with the smell of blood and dread. With a swift attack the strange people had struck down the men with blades with the agility of roadrunners. Hope had run to the child and gotten in front of him. 

“So Hope just what are these things? They seem to be targeting that kid” Britt stated with blame. 

“You have your secrets I have mine” Hope retorted.

“It would help with knowing just who we are fighting Hope, Britt and I have been here for three years and never encountered these” I strained quietly.

“Witches” Hope whispered “A mutant bird-human hybrid focused on assassination and from what it seems they have found their target”

“Just what more can come tonight” I added “Do you know anything else about them?”

“They apparently can't see despite their eyes they rely on only sound which proves just as honed a skill as any other in their arsenal” Hope complied.

“Well if we are going to get out of this i'm going to need you two to stop bickering and follow my lead” I claimed “There's a cave to the left run straight towards it when I say go”

“They won’t follow you they only-”

“Trust me Hope they will follow me, ready, go!” I shouted.

I took out my guns and began shooting in the trees and dodging their knife throws. I felt at least two to three graze me but kept going making sure to have all of their attention. I looked over to see the cave entrance was clear and made a dash towards it. I could hear the whiz of knives going passed my head with deadly aim. I mustered up all the energy I could. I began to feel the cost of using my Gate as my muscles began to cringe and tear under the pressure of my run. Sweat dripped off my face and my palms grew cold and clammy I could feel the heat withdraw from my body. I just barely grazed into the entrance before setting off a bomb sealing us inside of the cave.

Echoes of water drops in the distance filled the cave and the walls seemed to almost breath to life. A light was seen in the distance with a familiar voice that seemed to be in pain. As the light got closer and a face became visible.

“Hey he is ok they didn’t get to him” the voice seemed to mumble to itself. 

As I opened my eyes and momentarily have my vision focus with the pain in my head I could see who it was clearly. Almost with a gasp of air I exclaimed “Brie? why aren't you in town already?”

“We already went there but it seems I was followed” Brie exclaimed “and not by one group but two”

“What? where's the other” I asked with pain in my throat like daggers raking my voice.

“ It seems we were followed by the undead and not 10 but 100 or more” Brie stated “I have been down here all day trying to get out after luring them here”

Growls began to grow in a sudden pattern. Footsteps began to form like an army of disorganized soldiers from this I could gather it had to be the undead. Like this however I could only walk and even talking would take a big effort. I clumsily got to my feet and began going into a tunnel. 

“Where are you going?” Brie asked.

“We have to go I didn’t come alone into this cave” I said harshly.

“What? Chase no one else is in here” Brie stated “We have been heading toward this entrance for some time and you're the only one to come through” 

“Then where are Britt and Hope” I asked.

“That sounds like a problem if they never came through” Brie sighed “from what it sounded like outside we better get moving”

From below we could hear a faint but sure scream for help. I looked on the ledge to see it had been the child Hope had been trying to save from us. I felt a dread in the air as I got up. I have to get that child or else he would tell others of what had happened but even worse would be that he could tell others of where our hideout is.

“Brie we are going down” I claimed as I began walking.

“Why is that child even worth us endangering ourselves like that” Brie sighed with sarcasm” It's not like there's a treasure chest full of gold for us to loot”

“No but he was worth something for me to be trapped in here” I chuckled in pain as I began heading down the long twisting path that began to look like a labyrinth.


	2. Whispers for the Dead

Chapter 2:  
Whispers for the dead

 

Deep in the depths of the cave's chambers Britt and Hope awoke to find they had fallen into the lowest floors. Bleak lights from the top glimmered faintly like fireflies in the distance. Sounds of distant undead filled the cave as if they were atoning to lost sins they could never repent. 

 

“Of all people I get stuck with it’s the queen of sticks” Britt growled “Might as well hold a sign over my head saying ‘Come rape us and steal our equipment’ while blasting a blow horn”

 

“Oh really? While you and your group have been playing house for the past three years I have been fighting in the cities reclaiming at least five entire provinces” Hope snapped back.

 

“That’s sad only five? I hear that children have conquered up to ten in a matter of two years” Britt retorted.

 

“It’s a lot more than you can claim” Hope added “As far as I see you still have to go on runs to get even the most basic of supplies”

 

“Well at least we know how to risk our lives and not hide behind our walls called soldiers” Britt glared “Not like you would know what that is like”

 

“At least I don't turn my allies into sleeping demons without their permission” Hope sneered. 

 

“Now you-” Britt stated before getting interrupted by a sudden growl mixed with a roar “ Damn it’s the Cerberus”

 

“The fuck are one of those things doing down in this hole?” Hope asked.

 

“I don’t know but” Britt started dashing down a hallway into what seemed to be an upper level “Losers can eat the dust”

 

Hope began running feeling the heat in the cave suddenly rise as the beast got closer to them. It pulsed like a heater in a cold room on a winter morning signifying its contradiction. Hope felt the adrenaline pulsing in her head like battle drums and as she got closer to Britt she could feel it getting louder. Britt’s figure seemed as if she had been running for hours already in the midst of a sprint. The beast had them tracked in it’s sight and now began running to catch up to them with its husky growls echoing from the walls. Hope had finally caught up to Britt, however Britt jabbed Hope in the stomach with her elbow causing Hope to stagger from the sudden loss of breath. Her vision now blurred and her head dazed she grasped for a wall and began walking the best she could muster. Hope now realizing her slowness was allowing the beast to catch up to her began heading down another path . It seemed to be like a light in the end of the tunnel was getting further from Hope as she felt her steps splash in the water puddles forming from the dew on the walls of the cave.

 

The path opened to a giant open area with the path continuing onwards but the Cerberus had caught up with hope and now began running behind her. The area with the rhythm of dew dripping into the lake of water below which illuminated like a neon light show. This greatly signified that a fall would be fatal for the water was strong with poisons that acted like a luring agent from the fish in the lake to attract the lost wanderer's. The floors began to break each snap echoing the imminent crash to the floors below which would likely end in a slow, painful death. Hope began rushing forward feeling the beast draw breath closer with her every step. Warmer the air got until it became hot enough to start burning her back. The Cerberus whipped its claws forward like blades stabbing into the ground and lashed its tail like a whip hitting its steed. Only a few feet stood between Hope and the Cerberus.

 

The path had crumbled below Hope’s feet and she stumbled as the path began to diminish into the lake below. Rocks falling like glass onto the floor creating a big splash below with water now rising up and dousing Hope and the Cerberus. Behind her she heard yelp and a sharp dagger pain that stroke her back three times causing her to scream from its heat. Just as the last of the path had disappeared Hope had grabbed the floor of the next chamber and held onto a part of the wall next to the opening. Her blood began seeping into the lake she could feel it began to drip off her feet. The heat from Cerberus no longer filled the air around her and it felt as if it had disappeared from behind her. Scrambling she managed to get onto the floor of the chamber to see Britt just now entering the chamber. Now inside the chamber she sighed with relief as if she had just ran a marathon.

 

“Was that necessary” Hope angrily growled.

 

“It’s no longer a problem so let's move on” Britt brushed off the anger from Hope.

 

“Yeah le-” Hope tried to manage before a growl was heard.

 

The Cerberus began climbing the walls with its claws rattling the roofs of the cave causing rocks to fall slowly. It made its way to the Chamber and broke the walls forming them into pillars. It’s three heads looked like that of three huskies with its black fur emitting a faint red glow. Heat seemed to dance in the air around it as it exposed its wings with the shape of an eagles pulsating with the colors of the sun. Its long snake-like tail seemed to slender around the pillars and whipped back once the beast was ready to attack. It roared like a dragon’s might and a lion's rage and it’s red eyes glared at Hope and Britt.

 

“Damn it’s found us” Britt looked at Hope “Get off your ass this is the one time we are going to have to work together or else we will both die”

 

“Don’t you dare bitch at me about being on my ass” Hope pressed a small artifact and it emerged into a rocket launcher “I want to see just how much skill you have into fighting this kind of thing heathen”

 

“Same back to you” Britt pulled out her greatsword and it began glowing white with feathers of an angel dropping out around it.

 

The air around Britt seemed to be lighter as it glowed from her body peacefully illuminating the chamber. Hope unlocked another artifact and a machine gun formed radiating a hum around the velocity as the bullets began loading into the gun. Cerberus burst its claw into the chamber toward Britt and one of it’s heads leaned in for Hope and shot a fireball of flames which boiled the water in the room. Britt using the advantage of the Cerberus using its hand avoided by rolling to the right and then jabbing her blade into its palm. The Cerberus yelped and pulled its hand out of the chamber and held it over the lake of toxins preparing to claw at the chamber again. Hope used the fire to its advantage and swiftly rolled to her left and aimed at the Cerberus’s eye. A five second countdown could be heard from her rocket launcher before a sudden sound barrier shattering rocket plunged itself into the eye of the Cerberus. Upon contact the rocket made an impact of blue and purple flames with a sound boom causing the cave to shake and the Cerberus to slip into the lake a little before it began climbing back up. It then roared with anger as the room began heating up again the lake below began growing brighter.

 

Britt using the anger of the Cerberus to her advantage yanked her blade out of the hand and made her way to the left head of the Cerberus and in a swift motion cut off the top jaw of the head off leaving only the bottom jaw to gap and spout flames. The Cerberus began falling and now half of its body sank into the lake of toxins. The sizzle of the lake was followed with a shrill growl which rattled the cave once more and this time caused several spikes from the upper levels to come crashing down into the lake splashing the water onto the chamber floors. Hope aimed her machine gun at the body of the Cerberus ,but before she could fire her bullets it began taking flight and flew toward the location of where the old path stood. The water began seeping into the Cerberus and a new hybrid was born. The Cerberus had grown two serpent heads for the ones that had been obliterated and its body now vibrated with the light of blue and red and lashed three tails. It now stood on its hind legs and made a scythe out of the water itself vibrating with light and a hum like bees of an angered nest. 

 

Britt now pulled out chains and stabbed its back and swung to the right arm of the beast ,but this time the serpent head grabbed Britt in its tongue and the beast took flight. The beast swung its scythe forming pulsating slices which began heading toward the chamber where Hope was. Hope used the demolished pillars as cover and shot a rocket from the launcher once more but this time aimed at the serpent with Britt. Upon impact the serpent head bursted and Britt fell with her blade and stabbed it into the foot of the beast to avoid falling into the lake below. The beast reeled back and produced a sound burst that flung Britt and her blade into a pillar within the chamber. 

 

“This damn thing is getting annoying to deal with” Britt cursed wiping blood off her forehead and using her blade to get her back on her feet.

 

“It’s a divine being how could you really expect it to be easy if anything I was expecting you to be able to kill it miss sadistic lover” Hope retorted back.

 

“Only Chase knows these things like no tomorrow he is the strategist I act as the brute force” Britt stated with a smile “Well you know what the saying is get knocked down come back stronger”

 

“Let’s try it then” Hope flung her rocket launcher into the air and it combined into a four shot launcher and then merged her machine gun into the floor to make eight panels of machine guns all loaded and aimed.

 

Britt lifted a pillar up and threw it toward the beast shattering upon the impact the beast stayed airborne in a daze. The shambles of rocks dribbled into the lake below like pebbles skipping into a pond. Hope then unleashed all the machine gun and bullets while firing all four rockets causing explosions to drop the beast into the water below. The glare of the explosions and rapid fire illuminated the cave like fireworks. The cave echoed with the last bullet shell dropping like an endless ring of bells. The air smelled of grit and ash along with the extinguish of flames and burning flesh.

 

The beast laid still in the water as it’s light soon drained from it’s body like a river from a dam. The air in the cave slowly decreased back to its chilly temperature with the smooth rhythm of the dew dripping once more to the lake below. 

 

“Did we kill it?” Hope observed carefully.  
“No it’s merely sleeping until it’s energy is back come on let’s get out of here before it wakes up” Britt stated heading toward the door.

 

“How far up do we still have to go the sunlight has gotten a little more noticeable than before” Hope asked while forming her guns into amulets again and putting them on her belt.

 

“I wouldn’t know considering we both woke up on the same floor Sherlock” Britt smirked while her greatsword vanished with a white light.

 

“Well then maybe we should check when we can” Hope pulled her hair back and sighed.

 

They entered a room with a lake of water in it that was pure to drink just by the crystal reflection that emanated from it’s surface. Hope sat down and started administering anti-toxins as light began to pour into the room from an exit just above them. Britt sat across from Hope and began wetting her hair and cleaning off her clothes the best she could.

 

Light showed Hope’s new clothes like a beacon on a performer on a stage. Hope now wore black charcoal across her eyes that seemed to droop down onto her cheeks making her face look like she was hiding in the shelter of the trees. Her shirt seemed to be comprised of clock gears and metal pads going vertically from her right arm to her left hip full of knives. She wore a jacket that cut off at her midriff the color of black night with furs of animals and fabrics decorating the surface with a design of a pelt jacket. She wore a scarf of silver wolf fur that seemed to cover her neck entirely. A skirt that went down to her feet shifted behind her loosely like the pelt of a black bear and leather of an ox. Her shoes went up to her mid thigh that gave off a leathery appearance with fox tails on the sides with heels at least two inches off the ground. Her hair now had braids and locks with feathers of eagles in between sections of loose hairs to give her the image of a hunter.

 

“We can get out up there” Hope stated pointing up to the roof “ I have rope and a good aim to get a good means of a way out”

 

“What do you really expect me to just follow you “ Britt snorted “Like I would just let someone like you pull me up none the less lead me”

 

“Suit yourself” Hope took out a hook and threw it straight out the hole and it latched onto a nearby tree “I am gonna go find out just where we have come to”

 

Hope began climbing with each hand pulling her up the next set of coils. The closer she got the more brilliant the shine of the sun became the smell of the forest filled her nose. Britt hesitantly but firmly took the rope and began quickly shifting up through the hole. Once she got out into the open the forest seemed to surround her for miles. The sun beat down hard with it’s harsh rays indicating that it had been at least a full night and half a day since they had disappeared from the camp. 

 

“Well look who came anyway” Hope chuckled “Breaking your own self rules as usual I see” 

 

“You have no right to say that considering the kind of rules you tried to make before disappearing on us three years ago” Britt growled back.

 

“You know we could have a dick fighting contest or we could get going because from what it looks like I don’t have my boy and you don't have your friend and I am sure that’s all we want right now so we can split” Hope stated coldly.

 

“Sounds like a deal to me” Britt bowed sarcastically “After you your highness”

 

Hope growled and began heading toward what seemed to be a canyon. The far distant clashings of metal could be heard as if a full on war-scale battle had been ensued. Britt soon hear and rushed forward checking to see if it was her worse fears. Upon gazing she saw me holding a child fighting the best I could in the depths of the canyon. I was not alone it seemed that the underclass and Val had shown up just in time to combat with the legion of undead.

 

“Damn it! of course the worse of my luck has to hit now” Britt growled “This is why we should have burned the bodies last week this is out of hand”

 

“Whoa look who spunked up an entire army in a canyon” Hope laughed “I guess your rituals never stopped”

 

“These aren't pathetic rituals these are the bodies of the raiders who came a week ago trying to claim Chase” Britt snapped “He is well known around the world for good reason”

 

“Can’t say you're wrong there even I know what you’re transformation has made him become” Hope glared “Such beings should never have been made to live in this world but you did it anyway”

 

“It was for the best of the group” Britt sneered.

 

“Oh right,right even though it could have very well caused them to become one of the mutant fuckers that took David and almost cannibalized him” Hope turned sharply toward Britt.  
“You know very well who's responsible for that accident” Britt pointed at Hope “You thought those damnable husk were just merely people offering us a nice place to stay even though it was obviously too good to be true”

 

“Excuse me for not knowing we were in the middle of a magic holocaust that was in disguise as a zombie apocalypse” Hope pushed Britt’s hand away.

 

The floor suddenly rumbled and in the canyon dust began to rise. Wind suddenly felt a great suction into the canyon floor, this force Britt and Hope to the ground in a daze from the rapid change of pressure. As their vision regained back to normal they both peered off the edge of the canyon side and saw it had caved in. The drop of rocks echoed as they still collapsed into the depths below.

 

“Looks like this fight will have to wait I think our old Cerberus friend has awoken and isn’t too happy” Britt stated.

 

“Let’s get going then” Hope got on her feet and started walking down a newfound path that zig-zagged down the side of the canyon.

 

Britt walked alongside Hope as they went further into the gaping canyon. Winds began blowing the lower they got almost with a loud whistle. They soon found that there was a new path for the air currents to travel through and the closer they got to them the more concentrated the wind became. It howled like a vacuum of a hurricane had been formed in the canyon that once stood dead still. Eventually making their way to the would be bottom of the canyon they met a drop into the chambers below. Hope jumped first and Britt right after and they traveled through what seemed to be air tunnels through the channels of the cave.

 

The air suddenly became quiet and glowed with the colors of the Northern Lights as if the cave had suddenly sprung to life. The cave walls lit up mystically like lamps as flowers and new plant life began to develop around the walls and the scenery changed from a barren landscape of a cave into a meadow labyrinth of an oceanic forest. Soon came the sounds of bliss songs and melodies with the warmth of air not too cold nor too hot. 

 

The sensation was that of a calming ocean combined with the soothing feeling of an oasis. The music becoming more clear and whole echoing through the cave. Britt recognized this noise and prepared to warn Hope.

 

“Sirens” Britt screamed with her hands covering her ears the best she could.

 

Hope began to recognize the song as it’s dreadful yet irresistible rhythm bounced off the walls. It was the song every well respected fighter feared to listen to in their lives. It was the Whispers For The Dead a legendary song only known to the spirits of women who became Angels through the means of sacrifice. Cursed they sing the song to purify the land of the source of magic so they can pass onto the next life but it is a false errand with the overflow of it now filling their home. 

 

A room gaped open as Britt and Hope passed through it they saw sights to their eyes that only souls could ever see. The universe brilliantly illuminated before them and absorbed all of their attention like a child drawn to its curiosity. They would watch the beauty of grace in its purity as they passed the being who seemed to stand still in the middle of a circle filled with white wisp the size of small children. Their flames seemed to dance as they circled around the woman in white. The woman in white wore a dress that draped far below her actual feet and around her seemed to be shreds of the once whole dress as they floated around her. Her wings brilliantly shined like a beacon of hope in the dark tunnel with her voice vibrating the walls with calm and soothing melody.

 

No longer in control of their bodies Hope and Britt drifted through the room as the woman sang her song almost ignoring the two passengers who had entered her stage. The world went blank from all they had known. The air went from a soothing blows to nothing and the cold hard ground seemed to smudge against the sides off their bodies. Britt the first to wake up felt her ears with a ring and the ground with a cold hard touch to it. The rocks below her raked against her skin as she got up. Her vision like that of a puzzle as the room around her spun she could make out familiar faces once more.

 

“Hey there, how was the trip” I said chuckling.

 

“Wha-,Chase but how?” Britt managed.

 

“Same way but that song doesn’t phase me as it obviously did to you I see you can't even speak right” I sat next to Britt.

 

“Well if we are back together we can get out of here now right” Val stated in the background.

 

“Not necessarily” I claimed to Val “It seems we have a problem”

 

“What is the issue?” Britt tried to ask sitting up.

 

“It seems the child...” I looked toward the other end of the room to a person who matched our age “Is no longer just a child we should worry about”

 

“So it seems he has seemed you guys fit to knowing who he is” Hope coughed as she woke from her stasis “You’re right he isn't just a normal child”

 

“Just what is he then” Britt glared.

 

“That is why I have come back for you guys” Hope tossed a scroll to me “Read that message”

 

I read outloud “I am he who seeks me but also ends me”

 

“I have a mission for you guys” Hope stated with her best ability “One worth your effort”

 

“What could possibly be worth our effort” Britt questioned with suspicion

 

“That boy is the guide to Eden” Hope Proclaimed “We are his way to bring back a new world of peace”

 

The room filled with silence as we all took in the possibility that would could once more be in a world that never died. Me and Britt turned toward the others and nodded to each other signifying we would hear this mission's purpose- it’s real purpose with open ears. 

 

“We will help you but first you have to help us” I claimed to Hope.

 

“What is it you need from me” Hope asked.

 

“Start from the beginning” I said.

 

“I told you the-” Hope tried.

 

“No not the missions beginning” I looked sharply at Hope “Eden’s beginning”


	3. The Black Garden

Chapter 3:  
The Black Garden

 

“This child represents the twilight world ,a world meant to be but can't be accessed by those without magic, and in order for it to be brought into existence we need him to bring it out” Hope breathed heavily “Where it is at now, is the void between two realms”

 

“What does the world Eden possibly have to offer us that is different from this world” Britt questioned clearly suspicious.

 

“A clean slate” Hope added “There are no beings there that are undead or dangerous, we can rebuild society, because as it is now there are no standing civilizations just a devastated landscape with scars of this magical holocaust”

 

“A society could change the way that we live ,but just how are we supposed to even board this new world” Brie asked “We don't have anyway to propel ourselves into space much less the orbit of another planet”

 

“We won’t need to that child, now mature, is supposed to somehow be a bridge to link the worlds together, as far as I know he is the one who started my mission and told me all of this” Hope looked at the still unconscious boy. 

 

“How did you come across him?” I asked “ I mean he clearly didn’t just come from your crew since he would look more like you if he did”

 

“That is correct” Hope sighed “We found him and a strange shadow that seemed to both emanate light and darkness in the middle of a hunt unfortunately that shadow seemed to be someone important to him ,but it seemed as if it was killed before we had reached him”

 

“You said shadow?” Britt asked “You sure it was just a shadow”

 

“As far as I know bitch-cess yes it was just a shadow” Hope snapped toward Britt.

 

“I hope you’re smart ass comes back to kill you one day ,because one of these days you’ll be wrong about something and it will end up screwing you over” Britt glared.

 

“Well is there anything else we need to know about Eden?” I interrupted “I mean it can’t just be that simple”

 

“I would not know since that boy is the only clue I have to this Eden paradise and he told me that he just needed to get back to you guys” Hope glared at Britt “No way I would be back with feather queen over here by choice”

 

“I see well from the looks of it” I looked up and around to see that the sun was beginning to set “We don’t have much daylight left so we should be going” 

 

“Sounds like a plan” Britt glared at Hope while pulling her onto her feet “From here on out we will be allies you don’t have to like me but we will fight together”

 

“We can settle our feud some other time after all” Hope smirked “No need to take the queen’s crown too soon”

 

“Sir, what will we do about the sleeping one” Brie stepped toward me “We can’t carry him with our current conditions, All due respect ,but you just never know who is out there”

 

“I got him you just keep the eyes forward and look for monsters we might not be alone in this cave like it seems” I explain to Brie.

 

“Yes ,sir” Brie took up her gun and began leading out the cave “Let’s move!”

 

“Well, guess we are going on a ride to see just what it is that you are” I picked up the stranger and began walking out the cave.

 

The way out was very calming almost to the point it was suspicious but none the less we made it out without a single scratch or encounter. The dew echoed with our footsteps as we left the cave behind. The wind seemed to have died down leaving only a soft breeze with a warm ,comforting drift in the air. The sun slowly became the color of autumn leaves falling from trees with glares of gold drifting across the air. A sight of the clouds made the impression that a beautiful beginning was to be formed. It filled all of us with a new sense of relief and we once more had a little hope for the new future. We knew that this would not be easy ,but our target in sight was more than we have had for some time since The Collapse that happened three years ago. 

 

It was said that The Collapse was a result of our planetary instability to hold the magic energy ,but that theory was merely just a guess as to what it had been. During The Collapse the greatest pain we had suffered as individuals reached us like swords through our hearts. This was the beginning of our hate toward our once great ally Hope. Before The Collapse there used to be human beings capable of living in the already toxic air that seemed to make them drop dead like flies when the wrong ones were exposed to it. These humans believed that a deity of some unknown origin was coming to save them ,but little did they know this was not the case at all. These humans stole David, Britt’s husband and one of our greatest friends, and tortured him to the furthest extent to which they could manage. Slicing his every vein and draining him of blood keeping him awake afterward through adrenaline. They cut his body apart to form the parts of the so called ritual circle and through dark magic he was kept tied to this world feeling all the agony that came from being torn into pieces of his former body. 

 

The leader of these humans took his still beating heart and ate it continuously regenerating the tissue until the heart had become completely bruised black from repeated dismemberment. This was when the event known as The Collapse truly occurred. The skies filled black as if we had been launched into a dark part of space and through this came the shadow Britt came to hate the being of shadow. This being conformed from twisted versions of light and upon its enchainment the beast retaliated by enclosing the entire surface of the altar into a twilight zone. This zone composed of nothing but black and faint lights was the source of Britt’s contract. The contract of Order which lead her to become the first among us to be able to use divine abilities such as divine healing. She could heal so well the dead could pulse back to life at the cost of another person’s life. 

 

Through healing David, Britt plotted her revenge against Hope for allowing the humans to take him in exchange for Hope’s own life prior to the summoning. She killed Hope's mother, long lost sister, and at the time young child. In the collapse came the spread of twilight though some parts of the world remained untouched for unknown reasons. Ever since then Hope and Britt slowly broke apart and the once repairable friendship became a bloodline of hatred. 

 

Upon arriving to the camp we could smell the pines that shifted in the air. The sound of the trees rustled like the quiet shifting of whispers. The sense of calm filled the air bringing us to our ease for what I hoped for a little more than a couple minutes. The smell of cooked meat filled the air it was like freshly seasoned beef with black pepper spiced on top of a smoking fire. 

 

As we made our way back into the camp David, Luna, and Lindsay came to greet the long lost ally Hope. 

 

“Hope!” They all came to hug her “We thought we would never see you again”

 

“Hello guys, I know I have been gone for some time ,but I have returned home once again” Hope hugged back rejoicing that her friends still remembered her for a good person.

 

“I don’t see Kendall where is she” I asked the others while setting down the boy in my tent “It’s not like she would be out this late”

 

“You’re right I wouldn’t be now would I” Kendall announced while holding a boar the size of three men over her back “That would only be a fool’s mistake now wouldn’t it be”

 

“Well isn’t that small compared to the usual Kendall” Brie laughed at the boar “It’s almost like a child”

 

“That’s because it is” With a grunt Kendall lifted another two boars over her shoulder “These would be the parents”

 

“Well, Well you never disappoint with dinner do you Kendall” Brie nodded impressed. 

 

“Like I could be that bad” Kendall mocked Brie jokingly while putting the boar into the storage of fresh kills.

 

“Look’s like dinner is ready” Val announced while impressively looking at the tender meat.

 

“We were waiting for you guys to return from the caves, Luna said you had fallen we guessed it was only a matter of time” David replied.

 

“You have too much faith in us now don’t you” Britt said hugging David in a tight embrace.

 

“I have to or else who would” David laughed with the sudden poke to his side.

 

We all began eating the newly cooked dinner and talked for time's passing and eventually the skies above us filled with stars like lights of lanterns venturing the forest. I sat near my tent as I finished my meal and began to relive memories of the past. Back in the days when all we had to worry about were test and simple homework sheets. Now our days are filled with nightmares like our once beloved family members had cursed us with revenge.

 

The wind blew as I leaned my head back and inhaled a breath of air as the others caught up on what they had missed in the last couple of years. Warmth of the fire touched my skin like a pulse of a beating heart. Its crackling logs broke like a firecracker one piece after another in an echoing melody of peace. Smoke rose up to the skies like clouds wisping to the current of the seas forming into a collision of pictures.

 

“C-Chao-” A voice said from behind me in my tent.

 

“Ly-” I caught myself saying as if it were a familiar voice as an energy surged inside me.

 

“You know man you didn’t have to-” the boy stopped once he exited the tent “Uh, it seems I am mistaken”

 

“No these were the people who were part of The Collapse” Hope said sending the warm atmosphere into silent death.

 

“Oh, I see well uh” the boy exited the tent “I am Lysander, pleased to meet you all”

 

“What is it we are after” Britt stated coldly “That even has become part of the past why would you mention such a horrific accident”

 

“Well it seems you guys are special” Lysander laughed trying to brush off the tension “You are the only people including Hope that can enter twilight without becoming the newfound entities that lurk within”

 

“New entities?” Brie asked “We have twilight right next to us and we have seen none come out of that damnable field”

 

“They can’t affect the world we live in but can be walking among us like shadows in the treetops” Lysander tried to state without offense “There is no way one could see them in this realm”

 

“Well can we hear your plan ‘chosen one’” Val asked sarcastically.

 

“Well first we need a twilight heart then we can continue onward to a few other artifacts in order to complete the gate” Lysander looked around “I’m sure you have all heard of Eden, that bridge is our way there with all the artifacts collected”

 

“What is the catch” Kendall asked “Obviously there is a catch no way it is just that easy”

 

“Your right” Lysander sighed “But I can’t tell you just yet what that catch is after all if you only knew the bad it wouldn’t really boost the mission, I can tell you this it is a great sacrifice but what that is I cannot tell”

 

“Sounds fair enough” I said with a look to the others “A man has his reasons for secrets let's keep it that way”

 

“Thanks man” Lysander looked at me with a smile.

 

“Don’t thank me as if we are friends” I coldly claimed “I have met people like you there is only one goal you have with a sacrifice from one of us and I will only allow this for as long as it goes without causing my group harm”

 

“Man I-” Lysander tried to add.

 

“I don’t want to hear it” I started grabbing my sword and walking toward the exit of the camp “I am gonna go take patrol”

 

“It’s ok he is only like that because you’re not used to him yet” Kendall tried to cheer up Lysander “It’s happened before but I believe you have good intentions just try not to get on his bad side”

 

“I see” Lysander watched as I started to leave “Do you mind if I go?”

 

“It’s your risk” Kendall said waving him away.

 

I walked through the forest as the air drifted with the petals of the nightbloom. A beautiful flower with nectar smelling like the sweet release of roses budding and drifting across the skies. The moon lit up the skies like a white sun almost illuminating every leaf of every tree in it’s light. Sounds of the night owls filled the air with a quiet aroma of a calm night with no danger in sight.

 

“I can hear you” I said looking behind me with a glare “You're like a giant trying to hunt with heels in the forest”

 

“Well I wasn’t trying to stalk you more like catch up to you” Lysander said gasping as he tripped over a vine and began falling into a spiny bush.

 

“Watch your step” I said catching Lysander by the hood of his jacket “How did you even make it this past couple of years”

 

“Well that's a mystery for me too” Lysander laughed wholeheartedly “I can’t seem to remember anything ,not a thing besides being besides my once best friend”

 

“I see well those memories must come back eventually” I said setting Lysander onto his feet “If you’re going to follow me you might as well be armed”

 

“With what I can’t hold a” Lysander said as he was handed my white blade that gleamed blue where the moonlight touched “Sword..”

 

“Deal with it we are out on patrol for enemies not daisies” I coldly stated heading off into the forest.

 

“Where are you even going?” Lysander asked while trying to put the sword over his back “It’s pretty far out to be going the pace you’re going at”

 

“To the peak over there” I pointed toward a cliff pouring a river down into the forest below “It’s called Silverbane Falls by our camp from the way it freezes over the winter”

 

“How are we gonna get over there? That is like a day’s walk at least” Lysander gasp at the distance of forest that surrounded us.

 

“By boat of course” I stated revealing a boat in a stream behind the cover of trees “It’s the cleanest forest from here to the peak”

 

“Well then I’ll sit in front, right” Lysander smiled.

 

“No you’re first I wouldn’t trust you to be able to get there without me watching from the back” I said looking coldly at Lysander.

 

“Okay, Okay” Lysander said getting into the boat towards the front.

 

I got into it and sighed as the current of the stream began to pick up and I was able to untie the ropes holding the boat. I sat back as the boat creaked with its wooden frames and seats in a form of a canoe. As the current began rising we started speeding through the forest with the speed of a warship breezing through a sea full of battle. Lysander grasp me from behind and held on as the winds whistled past our ears. A sensation inside me lashed my skin with heat like a sun had been burning inside me. Ringing in my ears had come like a voice was screaming inside my head to be let out with sudden unexpected blurring of my vision to follow I leaned forward with my gut beginning to twist. These sensations completely foreign to me never occurred until just now and soon it settled once we reached the peak. The boat had anchored itself in the water and rocked with the current like a cradle to the wind. After a moment I regained control of my senses and climbed out of the boat with Lysander looking worried as if he had seen me collapse. 

 

“It’s totally usual I have this every time I travel on that boat” I lied trying to keep my head as I headed toward the tent under the furthest tree that viewed out into the forest below.

 

“You sure? I’ll take your word but that must be some ride for you to feel like that after every use” Lysander looked relieved it wasn’t something like an injury.

 

I sat down under the tree in the tent and leaned against my sleeping bag. It slowly crunched like the sound of rubber gloves as I leaned all my weight on top of it. Lysander awkwardly not knowing what to do came over and sat a fair distance from me. For a few moments we stared in silence into the sky with the silver moon and stars shining to a song. The fairies of the forest began singing the song of Lost Lilies a melody devoted to hope in the worst of situations. 

 

“You know, not to be strange or anything, but you resemble the him a lot” Lysander tried to say without sounding too awkward.

 

“Oh, really, the person's name you mentioned coming out of the tent, how so?” I laughed with sarcasm.

 

“He loved night’s like this and” Lysander looked at me “It seems like you’re not out here to patrol but to rather enjoy this setting, not that I have any complaints I enjoy these nights just as much”

 

“Don’t you think anyone could like the night sky” I asked seriously.

 

“Yeah that’s true but you don’t just look you wander” Lysander giggled “Just like he used to in fact he wandered so much it almost took the whole night sometimes before we would get any sleep”

 

“Well too bad you can’t remember what happened these last few years so you could go find him who know’s he could be dead by now” I rolled my eyes.

 

“I would doubt” Lysander said pained “He never was able to die or at least to me he never seemed to, he always charged into danger just to protect my group of once living survivors”

 

“You had a group?” I asked.

 

“Yeah once ,but they began to break apart and before we knew it, it was just us” Lysander explained “Not a clue as to where the others are”

 

“Ah, I see” I saided with less of an aggressive tone “What was his name?”

 

“Chaos” Lysander said with joy “Chaos was his name like the great void beyond creation”

 

Blood boiled in my veins as I suddenly felt heat rise from my chest and fill my head with a burst of shrill screams. I fell to my side as the pain began to make me crawl into a ball as if I had been stabbed. I could hear the voice of Lysander drain from my ears as his panic and my sudden pain began to fade into darkness. 

 

I awoke next in what seemed to be me floating in a galaxy ,stars emanating and drifting like the slow currents of a river.

 

“It seems like this will be our first meeting heh vessel” a powerful voice echoed from behind me.

 

“Who’s there?!” I turned around to see a strange figure.

 

This figure held a grimsly appearance of an exact mirrored image of me eyes, hair ,and all. The only difference being it cloaked itself in an aura of changing lights of dark to vivid hues of blue like a pulse. Even the eyes became blue as the pulse continued.

 

“Or should I say my reincarnation” the voice continued.

 

“Just who or what are you” I asked feeling a sweat drip from my forehead.

 

“I’m Chaos I believe you have used me as a weapon before numerous times” Chaos smirked “It’s time you learn just who your so called weapon is”

 

“Wait, but how could we be here I have no ability to spirit walk like this” I questioned the entity.

 

“Oh but you do and that is the same for the girl who summoned the light to cure her beloved” Chaos laughed with mockery “She should be going through the same experience right about now”

 

“Then what-” I was interrupted.

 

“There is not enough time as of now to explain but I will leave you with these words, Lysander needs to be carefully watched, I can’t remember much of my time before our contract, but as time moves i will remember we are one and the same don’t you forget that” Chaos moved behind me through what seemed to be light speed “If you do I will have no problems tormenting you which I can very well do at anytime”

 

“But I don’t even remember-” I was once again interrupted.

 

“Oh, you will because even you have missing memory fragments” Chaos said as a bright light took my vision through what seemed to be a flash.

 

I awoke as if I had just left and slowly the sounds of Lysander became clear again. His face clearly distressed as if I had been on the verge of death’s door. I shifted back into the position I was once in as Lysander began sighing with both worry and regret.

 

“You didn’t look well” Lysander said hesitantly “I didn’t mean to-”

 

“Is the reason you followed me out here ulterior?” I jolted.

 

“What do you mean?” Lysander tried to manage.

 

“Is the reason you followed me out here really because I look like the one you are looking for” I asked with almost anger.

 

“I didn’t mean any harm” Lysander tried to say wincing as if about to be struck.

 

I sighed “I won’t hit you, you have not done anything wrong as of yet”

 

“O-Okay” Lysander hesitantly sat to where we once were.

 

“I want to know what he- I mean I was like” I said with a strange tone of questioning the world.

 

“What do you-?” Lysander looked pondered as he tried to understand what I had stated.

 

“I think I just met Chaos but in more of a dream like stasis and to my knowledge he told me you were once a part of our combined lives” I curiously explained “I would just like to understand what he meant”

 

“Oh I see, well” Lysander continued starting from the beginning of their relationship.

 

I had eventually dozed off after hearing the stories of the ways they had once spent their lives together. A flashback full of different flashbacks peered into my dreams as if they were my own memories. All playing like different screens and different paces. Each were involved with Lysander ,I could feel my mixed-feelings grow more confused as more I recovered there were too many that were almost foreign.

 

I awoke to the softness of the sleeping back on the floor beneath my face and in front of me the black strands of Lysander's hair. This feeling almost common the sun seemed to rise like a beacon in the distance warming all it touched. I slowly felt my thoughts gather as I began to piece together that I had fallen asleep mid-way through the stories.

 

A yawn came from Lysander as if it were a good night’s sleep “Well looks like you woke up early as always”

 

“Did you do this” I looked sternly at Lysander “I don’t remember being in a sleeping bag much less with you”

 

“Well I wasn’t going to let you freeze and it’s not like sharing is too bad” Lysander said wiping his eyes. 

 

“Has anyone come by yet?” I asked with a tone almost suspicious.

 

“No one I would know of “ Lysander complied.

 

“Well then you’re safe this time but do that again I’ll be sure to kick you in the face next time” I glared at him.

 

“Nice to see you too” He replied “You don’t always have to be so mean about everything” 

 

“Aw, look who is getting all comfy with the new recruit” Kendall laughed as she walked out of the forest holding a spear. 

 

Kendall’s clothes looked like that of a gladiator with robes of a reaper. Her armor glowed an emerald green in the sunlight gracing the blackness of her torn robes like an aura of emerald. Her hair down to her knees twirled in the wind and flipped around as if guided through air currents. Her boots seemed to glow with each step along with her fingerless gloves as she touched her spear. Her very aura seemed to dance with a green appearance as she gracefully approached us.

 

“Fuck off, Kendall you know I’m not like that” I angrily stared at her.

 

“Hue,hue,hue, sure you aren't” Kendall laughed sarcastically behind her hand.

 

“Oh that’s enough teasing you know that Chase isn’t like that Kendall” Val said coming out of the forest soon after Kendall “He’s classy and takes them out-” Val looks at the cliff’s view and thinks about the night view “Never mind he totally is like that”

 

Val’s clothes were that of chains and draped black leather from black bears and boars from the hunts she usually attends. Chains clinked with every movement that she seemed to make almost like a rhythm. She had her hair braided over her left shoulder and her bangs seemed to droop over her left eye with a little hair left to reach down to her neck. She had alternate colors of purple and silver on her armor as if to reflect the moonlight like a gem in the night. She carried a longbow made of amethyst and ebony mixed into material and shot arrows comprised of mixed metals and magic energy she had stored up from the years of hunting. Rarely she would combine her own magic to make explosive arrows if needed, after all she had an ‘explosive’ personality.

 

“Hey! That’s just straight up offensive” I said embarrassed “You know I do at least dinner”

 

“Hue,hue,hue but didn’t you have dinner last night and even shared a little I see” Kendall laughed pointing at a bowl.

 

“Wha?! No that’s not-” I looked at Lysander.

 

“I was hungry” Lysander said shrugging.

 

“HA I told you Val ,see he totally hit that” Kendall held out her hand and Val paid her a week's worth of gems.

 

“Sadly no he didn’t” Lysander said looking embarrassed while scratching his head.  
Val took back her gems as Kendall's face now filled with disappointment “Why did you let me down man..”

 

“What are you two even doing over here” I said pointing at them both “We don't even need to go hunting until next month”

 

“We are going to get that Twilight Heart he mentioned before” they both said “Let’s go we need you too”

 

“Here you go Lysander” Val kneeled by him “these are for you, they are the best we have for the silver silk garments you asked for as well as the chest plates, and boots and such”

 

“Thanks, it’s much appreciated” Lysander smiled and went to change.

 

Lysander now dressed in his new garments that drape down like a cloak that exposed his shirt. It pressed tightly on him like monks clothing with the elegant designs of smooth patterns, it had full sleeves that lead to gauntlets with a glow to them of new quality. He wore military boots that fit perfectly. His black hair went into almost unrecognized patterns except for the sides as they were trimmed lower than the rest. 

 

We hiked up the nearby snowy mountain that seemed to be an endless climb. Wind billowed like a hurricane and the sun soon disappeared behind the clouds as we ascended through the thickness of the haze. The clouds almost making it a lake to swim through kept getting thicker until we had arrived to a door made of black and pulsating colors of different hues and even unrecognizable colors.

 

We all looked at each other with weapons drawn and opened the doors as if entering a home of another person. The air itself changed back into a still wind as if nothing outside had entered. The room dark and almost blinding we soon came into it far enough to see a pulsating forest of orange and teal.

 

As we marched this forest we heard not a sound but our own breaths and our own footsteps with echoing almost constant with not a clue as to another being. Not even a wisp of movement occurred just the pulsing lights which now made the sky a brass yellow. We kept silent to avoid alerting anything almost as if to test our limits just with our footsteps alone to make sound. 

 

Eventually we arrived upon a shrine which looked as if it had been set in feudal Japan with stones of dragons and sands all raked like a monument. We soon heard footsteps almost too fast that were definitely not our own.

 

We were witness to a wolf the size of a dragon with fur that seemed to almost perfectly match the snow of a winter mountain. It beared marks of what seemed to be ancient signals of spells left unknown which pulsed the pattern as the rest of the entire area.

 

“A Twilight Heart!” Kendall announced pulling her spear in front of her bracing for the attacks “This fight I’ll grab his attention the rest of you flank him make sure to avoid his attacks get into hour glass formation”

 

“We all got it handled ,ready when you are!” Val stated.

 

“Let’s see what you can do to someone like me” I said Pulsating blue energy and controlling my thirteen psionic blades to form into attack formation.

 

“Just leave it to me” Lysander took out some loose chains which seemed to levitate around him and a pair of blades made out of pure light.

 

“Looks like we got some new weapons here huh? Let’s take it on” Kendall launched forward.

 

The wolf bit a blade ,out of an unseen part of the twilight, and spun in a circle almost cutting Kendall's neck or so some would think. Kendall expecting it to be a surprise pulled her spear toward the sudden blade and causing her speartip to form and click onto the blade causing her to speed with the blade and get behind the wolf. 

 

“Over here big guy” Kendall taunted launching into the air throwing her spear and preparing to attack.

 

Lysander taking advantage of the distraction lunged forward and stabbed the left foot of the wolf causing it to daze a bit into thrashing around. I used my blades as a shield and pulled Lysander into safety while blocking the wolf's blade from hitting us in it’s fit.

 

“Chase boost me” Val announced as she started running and using her momentum to jump onto a platform of my blades and launched herself higher than Kendall.

 

“Now Val” Kendall pronounced as her spear split apart into a group of circles and in the circles formed different wormholes to appear in the shades of vivid green and purple. 

 

“Already on it” Val aimed and shot a pure arrow of purple that seemed to glow and the second it hit the wormholes expanded into multiple versions of itself and amplifying it’s glow.

 

“Aegis” Kendall roared as a shield comprised of blue hexagon shields surrounded the now stunned wolf.

 

The arrows all hit the wolf with speed and color that seemed to be an explosion of magic energy. The explosions produced a noise that was as shrill as breaking the sound barrier and a sonic boom not soon after being sucked into one small confined area. Its colors glared like a burning star as it’s heat sizzled the shields and seemed to blacked the impact spot more than the natural color. Kendall reformed her spear to form into stepping plates to catch her and Val in mid air and the rest of the fragments remained orbiting her waiting for the smoke to clear. The white drifting smoke seemed to only remain undisturbed for a second until the wolf lunged toward Kendall already prepared with a beam of twilight.

 

“Oh no you don’t” Val took aim and fired a grey arrow that in the split of a second chained the wolf’s head to the ground and slammed it into the ground causing the beam to miss entirely and devastating the nearby forest. 

 

“It’s about time Val” I said running forward and pressing my hand against the wolf filling its body with runes. 

 

“Chase, we can’t do that here” Kendall tried to persuade.

 

“Oh no Kendall this is different” I said with a smirk.

 

Holding my right hand into the air the area filled with a blue glow as the ground seemed to sprout spores of blue light and filled the sky with unseen stars and an atmosphere that seemed to change the entire forest. The wolf breaking free from Val’s chains launched at me and swung its blade aiming to hit me but little did it even touch me. Staring death in the face the blade came just inches to my face when it was stopped. In a split moment the wolf's fur sprouted off its body and its remaining flesh spouted into the air in pools of blood which came raining down in almost forms of hail. 

 

The smell of iron and rotten meat filled the air and eventually it began to smell like a burning metal. I walked to the wolf’s pelt and began shifting in it to find that inside was a heart that glowed at a pulse of blue and teal. 

 

“Look’s like I found the prize” I smirked at Val “I get the pelt”

 

“You cheated you fucking bastard” Val yelled from above “Only cheaters would use my arrows in such a way”

 

“Oh such a tease I am” I said mockingly throwing the pelt at Val “It’s all yours”

 

“Chase, how did you manage to do that” Kendall asked with a stern expression.

 

“You would never believe it even if I told you” I smirked “Not even a God would believe me”

 

“A God? yes that might make sense?” A haunting voice echoed behind me.

 

“Who are?!-” I stopped to find Lysander held at knifepoint.

 

“Hmm, seems like I have your attention ,good then I have something to tell you” The woman licked her lips like she had found her meal.

 

“Who are you” I demanded hearing Kendall and Val get onto the ground and walk besides me with armed stances.

 

“Oh only you would know” The woman mocked “The Fourth Gate, Prophecy”

 

“What?!” I stunned with the news stood still, feeling my heart pulse suddenly rise with every beat filling my veins.

 

A woman with lavender colored hair that seemed to reach her feet stood before me. She was draped in ragged clothes over what seemed to be a silver kimono that surrounded itself with pulsating clouds. Her face unseeable as it was covered with a skull facial with all components except the bottom jaw. Her appearance almost mockery and identical to the wolf. 

 

“Don’t worry I don't come for flockings” The woman said seriously “I came with a warning, You see Gate One just hasn’t made their move ,but I would be careful she will eventually and it will cost either you or him the lives you hold” The woman said rubbing Lysander's throat.

 

“Just what kind of warning is that?” Val insisted.

 

“You’ll know in time” The woman laughed vanishing with a black mist and releasing Lysander.

 

“Chase!” Lysander pleaded running and hugging me.

 

“Are you hurt?” I asked hugging back.

 

“Not that I think so” Lysander said with his voice cracking.

 

“Who was that woman?” Kendall asked “She seemed to know you as in you have met before”

 

“Yeah is she familiar to you” Val asked.

 

“Not at all...”I said looking at Lysander ”Not at all..”


	4. Daughter for Death

Chapter 4:  
Daughter For Death

 

At the camp the air smelled of honey and a night’s refreshing rainstorm. Moisture in the air seemed to drift onto the leaves of the trees. The sound of frogs and birds filled the air almost as if singing song of a new morning. Luna and Lindsey had awoken to take their shift of patrol while Hope, David, and Britt laid asleep in their tents. 

 

Lindsey’s body was filled with tattoo’s of varying symbols and shapes from things like letters of lost ancient runes to weapons such as swords, daggers, and even guns. They glowed like the pace of her heartbeat a brilliant purple and gold shine like the twilight zones. Her eyes matching the purple and gold coloration of her tattoo’s seemed to collide the two into a merge of colors. Her hair now colored lavender with pink tips as her hair had been formed from two different personalities. She wore two braids on each of her shoulders down to her stomach and in the back was the rest which reached down to her lower back. Her bangs uneven yet patterned altered colors through the strands as sunlight reached them. She wore a button up shirt and tie which matched her hair and covered up her vest with a cloak that exposed her shoulders and reached as far down as her feet. The cloak held a dark midnight black to it with symbols etched all throughout it’s sleeves and fabrics. Her skirt seemed to only go mid thigh and matched the cloaks color. She wore midnight black stilettos with elegance and almost perfect accuracy even when running or conquering tough terrains. 

 

Luna wore the torn assembles of an ancient priest with the colors of midnight black with golden amulets such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings. Each amulet surrounded the appeal of skulls and death. She wore black bandages under her torn priest assembles to cover her scars from previous battles. On her back she carried a cross the same size as her height composed of ebony and gold alloys. Her black hair had two streaks of sky blue and hot pink on her right side, reached to her feet. Her black combat boots reached up to her knees and had laces with a golden sparkle.

 

“Are you ready Lindsey? It’s almost time to head to our post” Luna said as she pulled her cross over shoulder.

 

“Yeah I think I am ready now” Lindsey said flipping her hair through the wind “It’s about time we headed out right?”

 

The air that was once calm began to pick up with the rush of leaves of the trees filling the air. Through the gust a woman stepped out of what seemed to be a shadow door and pointed toward Lindsey and Luna. Two male figures formed from the door and lunged toward the two while the mysterious woman stepped back and withdrew a sword from the shadows of the trees.

 

“Nice to meet you” A purple glow emitted from the woman’s hood “I am Gate Four, Prophecy and I come to clean up a mess left behind”

 

“Like hell you will” Luna lunged forward splitting apart her cross. Mechanical parts unhinged and formed themselves into two identical pieces that attached to Luna’s arms with a long blade unsheathed from its separation.

 

Luna met the two figures with both of them pulling out swords of their own. As Luna met their swords a loud ring echoed through the forest and the air around her produced a small soundwave which cut through the nearby air. In retaliation the figures synced and together broke from Luna’s attack and kicked her to the ground causing a small crater to be formed from her own energy.

 

Lindsey burst forward and her tattoo’s attached to her arms began to form into signals that floated around her in the air like a force field. She punched one of the shadow figures and upon contact a burst of gravity exploded in it’s direction causing the ground behind it to sink into a form of dust that quickly blew away with the air gust. The other figure looked ever still at Lindsey ,using this Luna threw one of her cross blades like a shuriken straight at the figure, upon collision a burst of light shattered the figure. 

 

“Good now that we are warmed up” the woman announced and behind her six wings opened all a phasing black substance that seemed to blend into the twilight zone “Let’s begin”

 

The entire sky turned deathly purple and plants disintegrated into black substance that drifted into the ground. The area turned into a wasteland leaving only Luna, Lindsey, and the one who stood before them. The air danced with vibrations that seemed to pulse with uneasy feelings.

 

“I got this Lindsey you charge the cannon” Luna said catching her cross blade from the now vanishing figure and began dashing toward the woman.

 

“I got it started” Lindsey said as magic circles pulsating with different magical attributes began circling her and forming into patterns.

 

Luna began her assault by throwing her left cross blade and as it reached the woman, she merely caught it in her hand and as Luna approached her with the other blade she shielded the blade with her arm not even bleeding as it entered her arm. The woman made her move with a smirk pointing two fingers at Luna's head and before it making contact Luna, springing her head back and avoiding the giant beam of astral magic, she took both of her crosses and merged them together. A glaring gold light emanated as Luna was launched away from the woman with the speed of a sound shattering burst the woman just kept smirking. With a sudden but jolting pulse the crosses formed into a titanic sized anti-graviton cannon filling the air with the feeling of a vacuum.

 

“God’s Bane” Luna chanted as the cannon pulsed with a golden light making the entire area feel the warmth of a sun for a split second until it was all redirected into the barrel of the cannon.

 

The cannon loaded with orbs of light magic making the cannon's barrel glow with a heavenly glow that could no doubt be seen from the orbit of another solar system. The woman stood face forward into the barrel smirking with her hands held out wide almost seeming to accept the impending attack. With a split second Luna pulled the trigger and what seemed to be a cosmic scale blast bursted in front of us with the forces of the wind both forming an explosion and implosion amount of force. Not even dust remained when the light disappeared only the woman standing mockingly where the barrel was aimed and the cross now lying between the woman and Luna.

 

“God’s Bane?” the woman mocked “Don’t make me laugh , I'll show you a true God weapon” 

 

The woman pointed her hand in the shape of a gun and shot into the sky a slim white energy and after what seemed like fifteen seconds the sky roared. Now what had formed above us was a cannon so angelic it put Luna’s weapon to shame, it’s light brighter than Luna’s blast. It’s cannon seemed to fill the sky with nothing but a dark and looming death surely capable of making Jupiter look like a mere bullet compared to it’s size. The air itself now pulsed with a dreadful sense making the energy of the situation feel bleak. 

 

“Don’t think of us so easily beaten” Lindsey and Luna said synchronized “Link-Established Daughters Of Death Awakened”

 

Lindseys magic runes circled both Luna, and Lindsey with a shadowy glow to them they violently carved themselves into the bodies of the two. Blood drained from their open wounds and formed a circle below them. The pulse in the air suddenly stopped with not even a spec of shadow or dust moving all was still but the three fighters. Lindsey and Luna’s bodies became encaged within a thick voided black appearance that seemed to pulse with the sound of their hearts. Their eyes now colored with the shade of white that glowed with their every movement. Lindsey formed a pair of daggers attached to her through chains that had impaled her body and draped out in different areas floating with what seemed to be a slow levitating field. Luna now emitted sounds of clock clicks as if she were a pendulum and in her hands were what seemed to be magic orbs that fractured and now orbited her hands like planetary stasis. Both pulsing with an unsettling aura that the woman was producing as well.

 

“Seems like the fun is about to start let’s dance like queens on a battlefield” The woman opened her arms with a gust of wind that blew her lavender hair and cloaks around her.

 

Lindsey lunged forward punching toward the woman's face to meet with the women's wing and in retaliation the woman spun with another wing coming sharply to cut through Lindsey’s arm. Lindsey’s cold eyes gleamed as she kicked off the shield wing and used her momentum to pull the other wing out and reveal the woman’s body with speed she didn’t expect and with a firm grasp Lindsey grabbed her neck. From a distance Luna made a twilight pistol and fired it with the bullet vibrating a soundwave strong enough to dissipate the air around it and crater the ground through its path.

 

In that split second before the bullet hit the woman she twisted Lindsey’s arm with enough force to the point it broke off and the bullet just grazed her hood and destroyed her mask. Covering her face with her right hand she lifted her left to form a knife. Lindsey’s arm regrew and met the challenge with a knife of her own and launched the first attack with a jab to which the woman countered as she grabbed Lindsey’s arm and kneed her in the stomach. Lindsey stepped back taking a breath before the woman had lunged at her with a swirl motion aimed toward Lindsey’s neck. Lindsey using her chains wrapped the woman's arm and yanked the chains toward the direction the woman was already going in and used her kinetic force to rush her to the ground and pulling out a butterfly knife with the skill of a master from her sleeve Lindsey jabbed straight into her back where her heart should be. 

 

Laughing the woman spun with her knife outstretched cutting Lindsey on the cheek and kicking her away. The woman threw her knife at Lindsey while coming toward her with an arm blade with speed almost blinding. Lindsey spun on her hands and dodged the woman's attack and pulled out a sword of her own. The woman now performing a strange flurry of swirls spun into attack toward Lindsey, at first causing the sound of two metal blades meeting but through the flurries Lindsey’s deflections began making the air burst with sound booms with each strike. The pattern had been established or so Lindsey thought. Through a speed set of flurries the woman suddenly revealed another blade from her other arm and began to jab toward Lindsey’s heart. 

 

In the second that would have killed Lindsey, Luna used a magnetic force to pull the blade down and hold her two fingers into the woman's mouth. With a quick series of runes Luna shot a twilight beam that grew in size like a sponge absorbing water and with a quick eye Luna pulled Lindsey away from the blast. Once the blast’s glare had died down the woman's face stared at the two like a marionette refined to the point of lifeless. In moments of stillness they now recognized the face of the woman who had been attacking them.

 

“Lindsey-I-Is that?” Luna began “She looks like”

 

“That can’t be” Lindsey said slowly backing away from the woman “She died years ago I saw her get crushed by the highway”

 

“Lindsey that has to be!” Luna argued “She looks just like your-”

 

“Mother” the woman said with a smirk “Well of course you would think that after all I put on faces for all those to see but no sadly I was the one who killed her after all”

 

“You bitch!” Lindsey hollered.

 

“Oh I see I have you riled up but it seems I have changed my mind” the woman's face began forming into an even more uneasy face “I’ll show you my real identity”

 

With a disturbing burst of blood the woman's face began to shift into a much more refined face all too familiar with the two. Her wings disappeared with her clothes and when she had reformed there was a new and impulsive reveal of a woman with white garments that seemed to drape over her like a goddess of ancient myth. A crown of angelic light drifted over her hair and her blond hair draped far onto the ground. She began to levitate and her hair moving with the motions as if she had been underwater.

 

“Isn’t this a bittersweet reunion” the women's apparel glowed “You thought Hope came alone well now you know she didn’t”

 

“Kelsey!” Lindsey gasped “The hell happened?”

 

“I got wrapped up in your pathetic excuse of a lie back at The Collapse only to awaken like a foreigner in my own body” Kelsey glared “I’ll show you just what it is I can do and end your lives-”

 

“Kelsey you know you can’t reveal yourself just yet I hope you don’t intend to disobey me” a deep feminine voice echoed behind Lindsey and Luna.

 

With a slow turn in what seemed like a moment of infinite time they looked to see a woman in mechanic armor from head to toe almost like she had been restricted. Red drapes of cloth draped over her even her face to the extent that the mask of mechanical restriction was the closest to a face seen. Her aura around her was almost as one would describe as a royalty gasping atmosphere.

 

“You have done enough let’s go” the woman said and began walking off “You two have just seen the world of Limbo I hope you remember it’s surface”

 

“Yes, my queen” Kelsey snapped her fingers to send Luna and Lindsey back where they were once about to leave “Watch out, I’m coming to get you where you stand but next time with an army of which you have never seen before”

 

As they both looked around to see the world was almost untouched except for a few spots full of fractures into the ground. They felt an uneasy realization that they had just fought something that never existed in this world. Their bodies returned to their natural stasis as they slowly made their way to look around them. The air that was once calm now seemed to be uneasily calm with a chilling sensation of something lurking in the shadows.

 

“W-was that?” Lindsay looked at Luna with concern.

 

“Real?” Luna added “Yes, but the problem is why was Kelsey working against us if we were the ones she begged to kill”

 

“You know well enough that we killed her with her acceptance and we did it right” Lindsey said frustrated “So why is she back now if we executed her even from soul extractions”

 

“Lindsey I think we better get the others and leave soon this forest doesn’t seem too welcoming anymore” Luna looked around with the woods becoming a much heavier tone of dark.

 

The woods creaked and shadows began to loom like a dark fog in the woods through their way back to the camp. Places they once saw comfort in was unsettlingly becoming much less desirable. Upon arriving to camp they saw Lysander, Val, Kendall, and I packing our things and placing the Twilight Heart into a safety container. Hope, David, and Britt were fixing up the trailer and making it safe for travel as it was once used for. 

 

“Whats going on?” Luna asked David “Everyone looks like they're in a rush”

 

“Twilight is expanding but this time it’s killing” David pointed to an ominous expanding cloud that seemed to form into skulls as it spread turning the stuff caught up in it into decay. 

 

Lindsey and Luna speed their way to help load things onto the trailer and prepare for leaving. The woods air now whispered with the sounds of screams and far off death. This air was not comforting in the least as it crept it’s way toward the camp steadily making the pulse of the entire group get steadily higher. Crushing sounds of trees echoed like a steady song of broken beats. The skies filled the area with a grey tone as the clouds seemed to pour in like vermin of an existential threat. 

 

Hope and Val taking the truck and the rest of us getting inside and sealing the doors felt the winds push us forward. In the trailer we had a dim light of old LED blue bulbs and uneasy tension. Outside we could feel the speed approaching at least into the hundreds as Hope sped to get us out of this impending danger. We all sat close feeling the road rumble below us with the diligence of men at war. We sat huddled into a group as we sat listening to the crackings of trees. The roars of beast echoed in our way with what seemed to be a chase that the cloud pursued us for. 

 

“Does Hope even have an idea as to where we are going?” Luna said said holding onto Lindsey and the boxes as the roads path began to rumble.

 

“We are going Home” I said with a stern expression.

 

“There’s nothing left there” Luna said “It’s all dead that cloud is killing it”

 

“Not back there” I slowly nodded “We are going to Arizona”

 

Everyone in the trailer looked at each other with eyes of what seemed to be mixed with lifelessness and hatred. The tension in the trailer built as they all looked toward me for an explanation.

 

“Why are we going there” Kendall said growling “That’s nothing but bad memories”

 

“We need something there or should I say we need to recruit someone” I replied with a cold voice.

 

“We can recruit anyone you need in the woodlands or even the plains by now of the dead zones” Britt argued.

 

“We aren’t recruiting a mercenary or a raider” I said sternly “We need the leader of an Origin”

 

“Those damnable monsters? The reason why there are battle scars all over the world” Kendall angrily stated.

 

“Turns out there’s more than one and we need someone back home to help us gather our artifacts to open the door to Eden” I said feeling a hand grip my own.

 

“I hope you’re right” Kendall sat down sharpening her spear.

 

“You know we don’t have to go there right?” Lysander asked me in a whispered tone “There are many others”

 

“I am aware but this is a way to get closure for our group” I said leaning in whispering in his ear “It was the thing that killed all of our old allies and even the reason why we have made the choices we have made to be like we are”

 

“Do you know if they will join us for certain?” Lysander said leaning against my shoulder.

 

“No but we have a deep history with each other” I said disdainfully “Her name is Kendra or a more famous name to the prophets would be Kisala”

 

“Why the tone with her name” Lysander asked curiously.

 

“If you’re going to sleep on my shoulder then sleep or I am gonna shove you off” I said irritated.

 

“Okay, Okay then” Lysander began to drift asleep “Tell me when we get there”

 

I plugged my headphones in and sat my head against the side of the trailer with the soothing melody of the road and my music I began to sleep. This time I hope we can change our last incident. Kendra I hope you can forgive me for my betrayal. For the murder of your child...The Origin was a part of my life too. I felt her warm, pulsing touch on my hands as I held her. Her every scream ,every shrill and begging scream rippling through my ears. She was surely too innocent to have deserved the punishment of such a gruesome encounter. But that is what was the price was to free you and you never saw it as such.

 

What is it that makes you so happy in that city of lies and chains as it binds your every control and moves you like a pawn in its game. You never understood the truth of that city and instead blinded yourself with a fleeting happiness. You ignore the world for solitude. Kendra I know you, and this time I come prepared to do even the worst of things to get you out of your own city. Your city of lies, your city of traps, your city of chambers, your city of black, the place where all the people on earth unable to escape the military had the fate of sharing the part of pawn to the Origin. This time I will be the arm to grab you out of that tar filled pit and pull you to the light. This I can promise.

 

The City of Ebony.


	5. Lies for Temptations Salvation

Chapter 5:  
Lies for temptations salvation 

We reached the Grand Canyon with the skies parched with the emanating glow of rosetta entwined with the vines of maroon. The clouds wisped with a violet undertone as it drifted across the skies indicating the sun’s impending return to its slumber in the stars. The air swirled with a vivid sensation of regrets as we watched through crystal windows, our once lively and warm filled home, as it became a cold desolate wasteland. Through the distance we could see the blurs full of hues of green,blue, and the occasional violet. The sound of eccentric music could be faintly heard in the echoes of the valleys and our trailer.

“Chase, you escaped from here once just what is this newfound place you seem to feel confident we will find Kendra” Val began as she started drawing a route. 

“City of Ebony, it will seem like nothing on the outside distant view but on the inside it is writhing with horrors” I said taking out my headphones recognizing I was being spoken to.

“Just what kind of horrors?” Britt asked curiously.

“It is not what we in our past would call a city you see from the outside it looks like clunks of Ebonics plates filled with vibrations and lights spewing out in what seems to be random spots” I began “But that's a false image inside lies temptations and trials of various kinds ranging from a giant room of treasure to a room with no end in store as a party rages on”

“I see so then is the goal to not get absorbed in the environment” Kendall added “Sounds easy enough” 

“No that in fact is one of the ways to get caught by the city and you risk exposure to its twisted games” I added as Lysander began to wake with a yawn.

“Looks like your fuck buddy is waking up” Brie said with a smirk.

“Morning to you too princess” Lysander said pointing to David laying on her shoulder “Looks like you’re a little late for the ball”

Continuing regardless the argument next to me I stated “The goal is to blend in and stick together and look for a man with golden eyes you can trust him he will take you to a safe zone and lead you to Kendra”

“What does this man look like besides ,just gold eyes, that is nowhere near helpful nowadays” Britt said with a sense of confusion.

“He changes his appearance much like a chameleon ,because the city looks for him with eager like a warrior going to war” I sighed “There is a catch ,however only a two man group can enter, anymore and we risk exposure”

“Well then who are gonna be the faithful two?” Val asked looking up.

“I’ll go” Britt stated rising up and stretching “and Brie will follow me in it is only sensible that we go in considering we are able to resist such influence pretty easily”

Brie looked at Britt confused “The fuck? You know I’m sinful as hell”

“Exactly it is only logical those who have a lot of negative influence go into a place only filled with a lot of negative influence” Britt explained.

“I’m sorry buttercup but your rainbows and sunshine atmosphere does not make me believe that any of us are less sinful” Brie said looking at Lysander “This gay motherfucker over here might be better than me”

“You are going with Britt” Val jolted in “There’s no more questions about it not an if, but,or, and why”

“Bitch better be ready then” Brie said pulling her chainsaw between her legs and blowing a bubble in some gum she was chewing “I don't want old ladies slowing me down”

“Well now that we have our two tributes it’s best you both prepare for a journey ,because from what Chase said this will not be easy” Val interrupted.

“Stopping” Hope knocked the glass of the truck letting us know in the trailer that we were close “Get ready for whatever your plan is”

“Get ready baby mama” Brie laughed looking at Britt “We about to go sin more times than our days could allow”

Hope stopped the truck with a slow ease that seemed to glide the tires across the dirt below us as it braced for its voyagers to depart onto a new path. With the sound of rocks and pebbles slowly grinding and eventually ceasing to a still stop and opening of the trailer's doors. The sky was now so illuminated that it looked like the once existing Las Vegas before the world fell apart. Air coursed with the soothing energy of a pulse from a vibrant party below us.

Lysander and I exited first and we went to look just how far the city went and to our discovery it seemed to spread to the horizon. Its appearance was that of complete ebony making pillars,poles, and twisting paths. The city in the canyon seemed to continue its eternal party just as it once did for me. Hues of blue and green seemed to wisp into the air in forms most comparable to mist. 

“What a joy to be home” I glared at the city “A pathetic excuse of a life was wasted here”

Soon the others exited the trailer and they seemed to feel relieved even though a great enemy stared at us just below our feet. They stretched and relaxed as if they had just been in a box for a few months in the same constricting position. Last to leave were Britt and Brie as they exited with a sense of revolutionary change and looked ready for the new dangers ahead. 

Britt wore what could best be described as wearing an armor set from a fantasy game ,but with less ass more sass. Her armor shined with a brilliant silver as the moonlight gleamed on it reflecting its own light and curving to all the metal. She fit the armor like a spartan ready for battle as her walk prepared her. Her armor texture was much like that of spiney and rickety pieces but it made the formation that seemed to make the impression of it curving instead. Cloth pieces of her once powerful mentor draped over her right leg with the belts full of anti-matter grenades draping her left leg. Her armor exposed her chest enough to show she wore the necklace of crystal she had received as a gift from her mentor as well. She wore a cape that seemed to cover her arm armor and behind her split into two separate fabrics of silver and blue. Her hair unevenly cut like layers draped over her right shoulder with layers going unevenly to her shoulder, her left side reached down to her chin. Behind her the hair seemed to reach down to her lower back in an uneven texture with strands conflicting each other in a polishing manner that made her hair flow. Her eyes glimmered with a newfound blue shine as she carried forward. 

Brie walked with a seductive curve as her carefree attitude promoted her self loathing to drown in sins. The right of her hair glowed with a golden blonde that went halfway down her stomach and twirled with the light reflecting her hair like a lantern. Her left side contained small rows of braids that reached to her collarbone and the rest was black and cut short enough to look like small grasses sprouted from her scalp. She wore armor similar to Britt’s but covered with with vanity and bloodstains. She wore a skirt that split apart covering her legs with two separate fabrics of red and black. Unlike Britt she wore her breast low enough to prop her breast in a manner that would seem to be aimed into making lustful men fall for her fatal attraction.

“Remember blend in” I told Britt and Brie before they jumped off the canyon into the city.

“We got it gaylord” Brie said grabbing Britt’s arm and running off the cliffside into the city below.

Upon landing in the city with the silence of anti-gravity bombs breaking their fall. They looked up to see they were not in what seemed to be a city but rather a club with music filling the air itself with vibrations. Music echoed almost loud enough to make their bodies shake from its volume as people in the area seemed to ignore them. 

“We need to blend in” Brie said “Well fuck it”

“What does that mean?” Britt asked confused to see Brie start unzipping her armor and it’s plates begin to vanish.

“It means I’m gonna let loose into a zone of my own paradise” Brie laughed as she began her new appeal. 

Brie ripped off her armor to reveal a slender outfit skintight that seemed to stretch to her motions. Her boots shined with the leathers of stilettos and heels that made her at least four inches taller. Her stomach was completely exposed ,and showed her latest tattoo of a pair of guns and a skull, with the straps seeming to wrap around her. She wore a thong that was covered with a thin skirt that practically just seemed to tease her toward the others. Her loose bra now was the only thing that covered her breast and seemed to lace to her neck choker. She wore leather gloves that seemed to go up to her elbows and was complemented with a silky scarf with the colors of red and black decorated in spots.

“What the hell, Brie if that wasn’t obvious enough that you didn’t belong here now they will definitely know that they don’t know you” Britt tried to scream over the music.

“I’m sorry I can’t hear old” Brie began walking onto a stage and began dancing “I’m merely just blending in you should try it sometime”

“Well I’ll go change like a proper self respecting woman would” Britt headed toward the bathroom seeming to pass the crowd of people like a cleared path with the occasional obstacle.

Upon entering the bathroom she could smell the air tainted with drugs and sweat. It’s dampness reflected on the mirrors and seemed to be all clear as she walked over to a mirror. She began with vanishing her armor all but her cape which stayed and formed itself into a shawl that seemed to sparkle. This dress filled Britt with the elegance of a party host. It split apart at her legs on the sides and was attached only as high as her breast which her arms were covered by her cape and seemed to blend together like a ball gown. She applied eyeliner and her navy blue lipstick that matched the undertones of her dress. Satisfied with the much blended appeal she left the bathroom that seemed to stink of a dank faintness of dread. 

Upon leaving Britt recognized Brie on a pole seeming to hold a title of a stripper for all eyes to admire and men to fall to their knees to. Rightfully she gained that audience and began receiving encouragement from both men and women. Her hair twirled with grace as she spun and licked her lips with a mockingly direct aim to Britt. Her outfit glimmered as the lights bounced around the room to add to the eccentric action and distraction. With the crowd entertained Britt went to a bar and sat to listen to the crowd and watch for unknown people that seemed suspicious. Music began reaching Brie to which she eventually began a dance with a group of other women in sexual attire and synced with their routine that seemed to almost be professional. 

“A dull sight is it not?” A woman leaned next to Britt.

This woman wore a white dress that seemed to slender on her figure and graced itself as loose fabrics drifted in the air. Her arms were covered in glitter and sparkles of crystals that seemed to glue themselves to her skin. Designs of the crystals ranged from as elegant as water waves to simple air waves of wind making her appearance seem almost alienating to the room. Her hair reached to her knees with the color of bright pearls as the lights of the room flashed in sync with how she moved. Her face with a smile that was all too familiar with a crack on her right cheek. Her eyes the color of amber and lips with the color of silver antique and almost seeming to be as white as her dress with a flares of blue streaking across them.

“Kendra?!” Britt said with a quick jolt “How did you”

“Oh, honey I am always here the question really is where have you been?” Kendra interrupted “At least I would like to ask that but I feel a little unpleasant in this room would you mind joining me in the company of a private room it's much easier to hear and talk”

“Oh, Well I guess so as long as it suits you” Britt complied standing up and looking at Brie.

“Excellent, let’s go” Kendra added as she signalled two of her bodyguards to back up and lead a path for her to walk through “After you”

“Too kind, But I must ask can we return here to pick up my friend later?” Britt asked glancing back at Brie now vanishing out of sight.

“Of course, the best part hasn’t even happened yet” Kendra clapped her hands smiling.

Through the crowd they made their way with the path of two bodyguards guiding them like ships cutting the ocean waters and making a trail behind them. Britt and Kendra ascended a flight of stairs with the appearance of crystal design and it seemed to curve to the waves of an ocean. Upon arriving to a door covered with an elegant white exterior the bodyguards took post and Kendra lead Britt into the silent room with a lounge filled with couches and a fish tank that seemed to circle the room creating a faint glow of LED lights and carried a much calmer atmosphere around it. As the door closed behind Kendra the sound from outside cut off and seemed to relieve Britt’s ears of the stinging music that blared for as long as it did. 

“So you’ve been busy?” Kendra began while heading into a section of the room filled with dresses and makeup.

“Yeah we were trying to find you in fact, I believe you remember Chase right?” Britt asked looking at the fish.

“Like I could forget him he was my partner when this place began to change into the hellhole of a paradise and definitely someone to trust by my account” Kendra said in the distance.

“Well he needs you to help him once again, apparently you would be helpful in getting us to the artifacts we need” Britt stated.

“Just why would he want me to help with something like that?” Kendra said in a more serious tone “He should know what happened the last time we did that”

“A new planet exist ,a paradise, it’s called Eden and we need the help of someone with golden eyes to help us figure out just what it is that our next artifact is to help us migrate to that planet” Britt informed Kendra progressively making her way around the room. 

“Why should I care what he wants with this new planet, I mean he is reliable but what am I going to get for risking my cover” Kendra said changing her attire to something with the sense of a gothic rockstar “I hope you realize that even I have my limits to avoid being found by this city and that includes performing to that crowd”

“Wait so that means?” Britt asked concerned.

“It means unless you want to risk an encounter with Origin and come to a swift end you better change your dress and put something together after the performance I’ll take you to the man you speak of” Kendra said as she fixed her hair “But why should I, at least tell me that and I will decide on whether or not to help you”

“It’s a pure world a real paradise a reason to hope that we can escape this bleak world ,and rebuild our society” Britt added beginning to tear her dress realizing that Kendra was almost ready.

“Well that is what I was told about this place as well” Kendra almost opened the door to Britt slamming it shut.

“The Gates are back” Britt said with a glare.

“So it seems, if you promise me that you have Allen on your side I’ll believe you” Kendra looked back coldly.

“Who is Allen?” Britt asked with confusion.

“He is the one who comes here to torture us for fun trust me we will see him tonight, but he is a valuable asset to get the golden-eyed one” Kendra pointed to the door “He always comes when the golden-eyed boss comes, like a harbinger of his imminent capture”

“I will get him on our side then” Britt said with determination “We just need to win this fight”

“Easier said than done but do it and I will join you and help you with the Origin” Kendra said opening the door back into the crowd as a stage formed on the platform where the stairs once lead to her room.

“Let’s hope this works like you said Chase” Britt sighed and followed after.

“Goodnight ladies and gentlemen tonight we hold a special tradition” Kendra held her arms out “Tonight we have guest singer Britt Lustheart”

Britt picked up a guitar and swung it over her shoulder “I’ll show you what a rock show was like when flames burned the skies”

“Let’s rot away like corpses my fellow dead men” Kendra gave the microphone to Britt and whispered “Let’s do my favorite it’s been a while after all”

Britt approached the center of the stage with the spotlight on her and strung her guitar. The strums echoed in the room with an awe inspired audience that showed Brie below unimpressed and Britt began picking up the pace progressively.

She leaned into the microphone and softly sang  
“ Walking away with all the pain  
Seeking distant destinies from within’  
And after all I've seen  
And everything in between  
My heart's the one to tame  
My heart's to blame “ 

Kendra could be heard in the background   
“ My heart’s the one to tame”

Lights in the room began light throughout the crowd as the drum line entered with a pervasive entry that shocked the audience with its crash. Britt strummed her guitar faster with the air around her letting her forget the complexity of the situation almost as if this were her home. Back when she would perform and began living her life she could feel her old admiration of her talent reach her again.

“So where have we all disappeared  
It's time to say goodbye, we’re on our own  
And this is where we become the reapers”

 

Britt’s voice picking up she could feel the sensation from the crowd as the music filled her body. The sensation twisting she whipped her hair and jumped in the air feeling the silence of that split moment carry her along. Slamming back onto the stage she whipped her hair back up and lifted the microphone to her mouth and filled her lyrics with rage as she began again.

“So turning back is Fate calling us to a toast  
It drives us toward the future of our days  
I guess there's one thing left to say  
With distant whispers we come here one last day  
It's time to say goodbye, we're on our own”

Kendra walking up to Britt came back to back with her as they played their guitars sounding the room with the sensation of drifting energy seeming to fill the crowd and lights with excitement. Beginning again they sang with almost rage and a devil-may-care attitude as Britt ripped her dress to reveal a gothic dress that ignited itself on fire and burst with the music adding to the screams of the people below.

“I ran away from my mistakes  
Death’s shadow casted so firm  
The regret of an eternity of reaping for an endless chain  
Learning what it all brings me to be  
My heart's the one to tame  
My heart's to blame”

The air around Britt screamed with the music as she begin to forget why she had come and felt herself losing grip of her sensations almost like a rush of drugs had pulsed into her bloodstream. The old talent had returned to her and she once again was able to feel her love of being on the stage and performing in the band. Kendra promoted her with a dance that seemed to mock the crowd below in an almost synchronized effort. They felt the music echo through their ears even their very own music reached them like puppets with music as its controller they could feel their rushes of energy consume them.

“Holy Fuck, That old bitch can SING, where the hell did this shit come from” Brie shouted from the crowd as she danced below with a man she had the liberty of blinding earlier.

Drums and guitars filled the air loud enough to cause their vibrations to be visible as it shook the building and filled the crowd with glee. Leaning her head back and touching the ground with her hair Britt rivaled her voice with that of a battle roar and sprung back up twirling the guitar into a jump. Upon landing the roof above her opened up and fireworks burst from the stage almost perfectly in sync with Britt’s voice.

“So we all go from here  
It's time to say goodbye, we're on our own  
And this is where we became the reapers  
Reaping lives for all of those at the end of days   
It drives us toward the future of our days  
I guess there's one thing left to say  
With distant whispers we come here one last day  
It's time to say goodbye, we're on our...”

Britt held her breath a little as she tilted back with an almost climatic silence. The crowd in the silence could almost hear a synchronized breath. With a stomp to the ground Britt’s body emitted tattoo’s that glowed with the brilliance of violet and maroon almost like a beacon.

 

“Goodbye, we're on our own!”

In the back Kendra began almost echoing Britt’s words as the rhythm pulsed from the room into the skies above. Britt leaned forward as the drums and guitars eased into an almost near silence as Kendra’s voice was all that remained.

It drives us toward the future of our days  
I guess there's one thing left to say  
With distant whispers we come here one last day  
It's time to say goodbye  
we're on our own

An almost deafening blast of drum clashes and guitars clashing all at once with the combination of Britt and Kendra’s voices. The floor below rocked as the bass began to burst the floors foundations to what seemed to be almost breaking point. Britt’s face almost displaying her enjoyment spun in as she prepared for her next thrill. 

“So where do we all go from here  
It's time to say goodbye, we're on our own  
And this is where we reappear  
So turning back is what I hate the most  
It doesn't matter anyway  
I guess there's nothing left to say  
So where do we all go from here  
It's time to say goodbye, you're on your own.”

With Britt’s voice now echoing like a beacon to all those who had open ears almost alluring the crowd into jumping and clashing as she yelled her lyrics with an almost sound ear shattering accurate tone making the air itself turn solid.

(My heart's to blame)  
You're on your own.  
(My heart's to blame)  
You're on your own.

As the music began to die out the crowd’s cheer took over as they cheered with glee and jumped with excitement. Her tattoo’s began to disappear as the fireworks above died out with her last ring of her last word. She closed her eyes to rediscover she had never felt this kind of rush in over five years and that secretly she had wished she could do it again. Upon opening her eyes Britt was greeted with her hand being risen above her head to the crowd as Kendra stood next to her smiling.

“Miss that rush?” Kendra laughed huffing air “Don’t worry keep your promise and we can do this once again like old times”

“Yeah you can bet” Britt looked at Kendra with a smile in return “I promise”

A clap quieted the crowd almost in a sarcastic manner the man next to Brie shook his head. His hair white as snow and dressed with a suit and tie he stepped forward to the stage. Britt and Kendra turned their attention to him as the crowd backed away and began to be the most silent it had been all day. 

“What a nice performance, too bad I have to be an asshole and just” the man lifted his hair and on his face a tattoo of a diamond on his left cheek emitted purple “Ruin the fun”

“Allen!” Kendra stood in front of Britt “What do you want? This is sacred ground we have a deal”

“That may be true” Allen lifted a gun from his coat to Kendra and numerous more surrounded her and Britt “But what can that man do for you if he can’t even show his face”

“Dammit, you bastard do you have any sense of duty” Kendra said covering Britt with her body.

“Oh but if you live it’s all okay so I’ll just play a while” Allen slowly pulled the trigger.

With a golden flash a man with black hair and a golden attire almost perfectly matching what I once wore appeared and kicked Allen in the face. Allen’s guns around Britt and Kendra dropped as the new stranger slammed Allen’s face into the ground. The crowd had begun exiting the building recognizing this was no longer a safe location. Golden glares emanated from the stranger's eyes as he met Allen straightforward and in terms of punches and kicks they seemed to match each other perfectly until a flash of golden energy transformed all Allen’s guns toward him and pinned him to a wall. Each gun at skin point with a blast radius of point blank should they fire.

“Oh, come on bro can’t you just chill even just a little” Allen said with a chuckle.  
“You know your treaty was broken by you just stepping in this place again you’re lucky I don’t pull the trigger right now” the stranger said.

“Um, sir, who the hell are you?” Brie said as her armor began to form once more and she put a lollipop in her mouth with the raging sounds of her chainsaw blades dropping to the ground and levitating into the air “It seems we need to go over a little thing’s huh”

The stranger looking at Brie and Britt sighed “I know who sent you ,but that needs to wait we are attracting the attention of Origin” he seemed to flash the room gold once more.

Once the flash had died down the newfound place was a dimly lit room with the echoes of water dripping in the background. We all stood in our positions as we once did in the club but this time Kendra and Britt put on their armor. The three of them stared at the stranger for some time until they were certain this wasn’t an illusion.

“Why don’t we all just cool down” Allen began “After all if it's him you know he has made his part of our deal already ready”

“Kendra, dial Lysander” the stranger said “ask for the password”

Kendra did as was requested taking out her earpiece and putting it in a speaker mode contacting Lysander. In the shock that they mentioned a name Britt, and Britt were certain they would not know yet they stood in silence. 

“Lysander, the password” Kendra said coldly “Rize wants to know it’s true”

A buzz came from the earpiece and then was accompanied with a cold, dry voice stating “The Gates are dancing”

Recognizing the situation Brie and Britt looked at each other with unease ,because they were sure that Lysander had not even been anywhere near them in that song. Rize let Allen fall to the ground and looked at Kendra with a look of acceptance.

“This way guardians, we have a lot to explain” Rize began walking out the room.

The door creaked as he left and turned out of sight with a light that seemed to surround him. Britt and Brie unsure of how they should react otherwise choose not to ask questions and follow silently feeling a change in the air as it became more cold. water ran next to their feet like a river with the laziness of a lake as they began down a long hallway. Kendra and Allen begin walking behind Brie and Britt. 

Their footsteps being the only thing heard as it echoed against the walls of this now chambering hall that fit most like a jail cell. Drops of water rippled into the river next to them like a hazy bog of rain drops. Soon however the air began to smell strongly of blood like it had been painted around the room. On top of that flesh seemed to mix with that smell as blood began smearing on the walls around them as if appearing like it was transforming into a butcher's house. Stilling silence made the tension grow as corpses with their flesh seemingly eaten off. Now it sat against the walls like dummies as flies and rodents flurried in the hollow stomachs of the now dead people. 

A crunching echo soon began to echo into the depths of the chambers like someone were to be enjoying a meal full of soup with bones. As their lights reached chamber doors screams of women began violently shattering the air with the light entering their rooms. Through glimpses they could see women with bodies mutilated like toys in a toy farm. All alive, some with their uterus expanding from their small bodies as a large amount of worms swirled in them like vipers. Other well alive as their body was filled with their own ripped out bones and jabbed in like a pin doll as their gut’s dripped to the floor and blood filled all these chambers like a wallpaper. 

They walked behind Rize as he headed into a room with a familiar tone with it as the door sat wide open. As Britt walked in her stomach swirled and she felt her blood rush from her body into her stomach. She turned to puke into the water right next to their feet as Rize, Kendra, and Allen nodded appropriately and made a knock on the door showing their arrival. Brie unable to help looking inside saw a woman hanging with all fours tied in chains with her entire frontal body missing from her jaw to her crotch. 

“Well isn’t this a little surprise” A familiar voice hummed “The feast of a many lifetimes and you have to witness it I would call that a sin but where are those going right?” the man stepped into the light that was flickering for the woman's body.

Lysander held a baby’s arm in his hand and threw it into his mouth as if it was a snack. Not even phasing his pupils changed from before when he was with me this time they were dilated and his eyes shifted into a purple aura. A sickening grin across his face with blood dripping covering his body like a decoration but mostly centered around his mouth.

“You’re a sick fuck” Brie said pointing at the woman's body “The hell is up with this bullshit?”

“Oh?” Lysander asked with a sarcastic glare “hehehehe, well if you couldn’t guess already but this isn’t the first time you have seen this oh trust me” he said with a husky sound.

Britt’s eyes widened as she felt the memories of all the once happy children and she began screaming. In her head began the screams of children compiling on top of each other she began laying on her side gripping her head. With shock Brie ran over to Britt to see her befallen ally on the floor with tears of blood dripping out of her eyes and twitching in her body.

“I-I-It’s them” Britt murmured.

“What? what’s them?” Brie said shaking Britt “snap out of it dammit”

“It’s the Gates” Britt whispered as she began to clutch her head again.

“Oh it seems you don’t know” Lysander leaned next to Brie “You’re the thing you hated so much, the ones who killed your family and your friends like sheep” with a laugh Lysander backed into the chamber “You’re a Gate, Brie”

“What the hell did you say you homo-sadistic bastard” Brie said pulling her knife from her belt and holding it to Lysander’s throat.

“Their deaths still haunt you I see” Lysander chuckled “It was you who killed them after all, you just refuse to believe it or rather you block it out”

“I should kill you right now you cannibalistic fucker” Brie said slightly drawing her blade into Lysander’s neck causing blood to drip.

“Oh, but then” Lysander glared “Who would be the one to prevent us from tormenting her over there not like you would understand just how fucked up she has become”

“And what would stop me from killing all of you and leaving with her” Brie insisted “If I am such a Gate then what would stop me”

“Brie-” a voice echoed the room “Brie is that you?”

“W-Winona” Brie gasped as she turned to see a figure standing next to the door covered in bandages as if recovering. 

“We have a lot to talk about Brie” Lysander said grinning “If not me to tell you I’ll let her”


	6. Devil's Lair

Chapter 6:  
Devil’s Lair

The air rang with the staunching smell of blood as the blood on the walls around them dripped slowly to the floor and began puddling at their feet. Winona stood in the doorway facing Brie with a seemingly indifferent smile as if she had been expecting this. Winona’s body was covered in white bandages that covered all of her skin except her right eye, mouth, and her hair. Her single eye glowed with a pristine red that seemed like a warm hug and a hot knife in your back at the same time. Her hair long enough to reach her ankles rested on both her shoulders and over her back. Her hair shined with a whiteness that seemed to brilliantly light up the room as if it were it’s own light. 

Rize looked at Winona with a respectful gaze and nodded his head before heading down the hallway and out of Brie’s sight. Britt laying next to Winona’s feet laid still with almost a dead-like appearance. Winona stared at Brie like she was a foreigner until she began to speak with a haunting voice. 

“It’s been awhile has it not?” Winona entered the chamber and began once more “Looks like you’ve been busy”

“How are you still alive” Brie let Lysander drop from her grip and she faced Winona “ I saw what happened to you, those hydras destroyed your body, obliterated in fact”

“True that is what you would have thought ,but” Winona put her finger onto her chin “You see I haven’t died or at least not fully yet”

“What’s this you sick fuck?” Brie said looking at Lysander with disgust.

“Oh sweety” Winona began stroking the face of the corpse “Seems like you have a lot to catch up on”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Brie asked with a glare.

“Ha,well for starters I’m Origin” Winona began “Or at least one of them, you see this place is a nesting place for all of them to gather”

“The hell? Just what is going on here” Brie looked at Lysander “You have a story to tell”

“Well where do I begin” Lysander looked at Brie “For starters I should mention that it was not me who made your friend an Origin”

“Then what is this that you’re doing?” Brie looked around the room “If anything this is the exact habitat to create an Origin in, it’s full of dreaded souls”

“That would normally be the circumstance ,but Winona is what we would call a Twilight Soul” Lysander looked at her “Care to explain why that may be?”

“Brie I’m a Gate as well, I’m Rebirth and Resurrection” Winona sighed as she unwrapped her face revealing a face half consumed in a twilight energy “I’m also a Grave Origin, I’m a compilation of five hundred different Origin sources, I died but the souls refuse to let me pass on until they are at peace”

“Is that you're doing you bastard?” Brie held Lysander by the collar “That sure as hell does not happen naturally”

“You are right there I have been using Winona as a petty little test subject” Brie punched Lysander in the face causing a drip of blood to come from his nose.

“What would Chase think of you” Brie spat on Lysander “It’s pathetic what you have decided to hide”

“Oh, honey you don’t even know” Lysander looked up with a grin and in a flash of light Brie felt her head get launched through the wall and crush itself onto the floor of another room.

Ringing filled Brie’s ears and her vision dazed into double blurs as voices began to ring with a vibration almost unrecognizable. The room gave the appearance of an ancient castle with an alter across a long stretched aisle. Pillars strung up like broken stones glued together with a transparent concrete.

“Activate her, do as you must” a voice buzzed as the air rang with a sense of danger.

“As we must” Winona entered through the newfound hole in the wall slowly unwrapping her bandages “Gate Eight, Rebirth”

The room illuminated with the lights of what would be in a twilight zone but this was invasive and came only from Winona. Winona’s red eye glazed before a cloud of twilight energy swirled around her revealing out a new form. Now levitated in the air, Winona with a face clear from the twilight and her left eye red, right eye filled with the brilliance of twilight. Fabrics of twilight energy seemed to levitate off of her now as she levitated in a graceful position arms bound by chains and cuffs. The chains extended it her feet as well with the light that Lysander casted upon the earlier attack. Behind Winona appeared a circular blur of metal in the form of a clock that ticked with a swing of a pendulum. 

Above Brie she could see Rize, Kendra, Allen, and Britt all watching her and Winona. Britt now seemed to carry a different demeanor and a stone cold voice that almost alienated the room. Her gaze penetrated the room more than the others as if she had been punishing Brie for negligence. 

“Gate One, You know you don’t have to watch” Lysander appeared next to Britt and patted her shoulder.

“On the contrary, I need to see if Nine comes out” Britt looked at Brie almost with a indifferent glare “It was this bitch who stole her from me after all”

“Well as long as it suits you” Lysander snapped his fingers “You can begin”

“Wait, will you all just-” Brie got to her feet to see the chains of Winona vanish and Winona glare before vanishing from her clock without a trace.

The room expanded with a sudden shift and the ceiling seemed to peer as high as a skyscraper as the room seemed to shake with a newfound emptiness. Brie grasping her side ripped her armor off to expose her skin and then jabbed a knife into the exposed skin. With a warming sensation she felt the knife's blade begin to scold as she took it out. The knife, now glowing red with the brilliance of a ruby, formed itself into a double bladed sword with chainsaw blades. 

With a vacuum of air Winona appeared below Brie, with a swift movement a blade punctured Brie’s stomach and exited through her back. Feeling a newfound pain she suddenly felt a burst of her blood through her stomach. The pain reached so quick around her body her feet went numb as she tried to maintain her stance. Vanishing again, Winona appeared in front of Brie with a new blade almost opposite in her previous blades composition and laughed.

“Did that sting a little?” Winona smirked “It’s made to kill Gates specifically, you considering that you refuse to activate the power or rather you're unable to”

“What the hell Winona” Brie gasped “Why are you so hell bent on killing me I’ve done nothing wrong”

“That’s pretty debatable” Winona glared at Brie “You’re supposed to be Nine ,but since you’re not a match I need to remove your null contract to allow her to move onto a better vessel”

“You know that’s a joke” Brie chuckled as she got up with her pupils dilated “You call my vessel imperfect ,but guess where you fucked the hell up Winona”

“Wha-”Winona gasped as she felt a spear rush through her stomach.

“Brie, is the best host for me” Brie cut her throat open to reveal blood that gushed like a fountain for moments as it began healing forming an aura of blood “You see I am Gate Nine, Punishment”

“How?” Winona said pulling the spear out and covering her stomach as her hair dropped over her face “You didn’t unlock your Gate seal in order to be active”

“Oh that’s where you mistook me along with Britt” Brie smirked “I’ve been reincarnated, just like Chaos” 

“Impossible that would require-” Winona gasped as she felt a rush of air behind her.

“You were my Great Sacrifice” Brie grabbed Winona by the hair and pulled her back while snapping her head off her neck with a roll onto the ground “Come on, I know you have reincarnation as one of your infinite assets I am going to show you just how much you fucked up by assuming I was merely mortal”

Winona’s head spun back to her body and bonded itself back on with a snap. Winona launched to Brie crossing her arms as blades came from her hands preparing for the attack. Snapping her own spine Brie launched back avoiding the blades taking the opportunity to grab the wrist of Winona and twisting her to the ground. With a jerk Brie’s spine popped into place and she stomped her foot on Winona’s throat, ripping her arms off. Blood gushed onto the floors as the room filled with the uneasy air of a overwhelming force. 

“You want to act like a dog” Brie formed a chain by ripping the air particles into a bright formation of energy “I'll show you like I treat dogs”

Brie yanked the chain around Winona’s throat and suffocated a grip around her. Winona gasped as she kicked her legs trying to get air unable to push Brie off. Her breaths became rapid as her eyes became lifeless and within a second her body turned to the color blue as if she were frozen.

“That’s sure as hell not the last for you” Brie jammed her hand into Winona’s stomach making her shake back into life as her body began to spring to life once more “I’m not done with you yet”

Winona’s shrilling scream emitted an echo as Brie began ripping out her organs and burning them in her hand. In the middle of the screams Brie began to grab her head as a purple mist surrounded her body increasing in darkness as it swirled, Brie backed away from Winona.

“Damnit, I thought you were suppressed, you bitch” Brie began talking to what seemed to be herself “No!, this isn’t what I wanted this is not what I made my contract for”

“Conflicted” Winona gasped as she began to reform “That’s why they are unable to work together because they are conflicted”

“Would you leave me alone, you bitch” Brie slammed her head into the wall “Not while this is the way you choose to abuse my skill”

“Coefficient Confliction” Britt said falling next to Winona with her heels clipping onto the ground “Seems like they can work together but with no sync in the mental plane, an issue indeed”

“What do you suppose we do to fix this” Lysander said rechaining Winona and changing her back into her stasis form.

“Break her” Britt said flipping her hair with her palm “Let’s see if she can solve the puzzle broken”

“Very well, then I’ll leave that up to you” Lysander said with a smirk “I’ll go secure the others, once she begins the puzzle I’ll return with a gift for sure”

“Just go before you're trapped in here with us” Britt surrounded herself with an assortment of hologram spell circles “Labyrinth Break”

Lysander had vanished with the others as the building began to rumble and fill with a bright assemblage of runic puzzles. Brie began to see a bright white flash as she watched the building rumble apart and eventually she felt her senses die out with nothing but a hum. Upon awaking Brie saw a room with Lysander, Britt, Kendra, Rize, and Allen, laying on tables with cords wrapped around them and a flow of blue fluid into their lower scalp.   
The room dripped with the dew of warm bodies as Brie slowly rose off of the table ripping the cord out of her neck with a sharp echo that seemed to fill her body. Shaking she faintly stepped to the ground feeling the rough concrete fight her shoes as she began making her way to her friends. She heard footsteps and spotted a vent under her to which she slipped into and held her breath. 

A figure stepped in that resembled a corpse attached to metallic components to move the body. The figure stepped into the room with a deep breath and opened it’s eyes that appeared in the wrinkles of the corpse's skin. It slipped and stomped as it made it’s way toward the other tables and drew a breath before clicking onto their table and entering some form of codes into it. 

“Hm, what a dreaded dream he must be having hehehe” The figure huskily laughed “I just love playing games”

The figure repeated the process as it made it’s way around the room and reached Brie’s table. With a shrill shriek it slammed the table and began looking around the table’s sides and gave up slamming its fist into the table. The figure now in a fit split open and revealed itself as if it had ripped all of its organs out and stapled them together. He launched out of the room with the shrill roar of a decaying beast. Brie slowly climbed out of the vent and crawled around the tables and began looking to find a way to take off the cords of the others.

Britt’s arm flopped over the table as Brie crawled under her “It’s 5-3-9-0 enter it into the machine” She pointed as she tried to talk in a raspy voice.

Upon entering the code the table shut off and Britt ripped the cord from herself and began sitting up. The air filled with the sense of strange realization that they had somehow been captured. Brie went around the room and waking people up as they began sitting up and sighing as if stuck in a constricting grip during their sleep. Lysander looked at Britt then to Brie and then around the room in a swift turn.

“No-No where is he?” Lysander said in a jolt trying to get on his feet but falling to the ground with weak knees.

“Wait, why are you guys here?” Brie began in confusion.

“It got them” Kendra began as she stepped off her table and leaned on it with her arms to get balanced “I know where Chase is Lysander don’t worry”

“Are we just going to pretend that you guys didn’t try to kill me” Brie retorted.

“When you’re put on that machine he controls you like a player in a game, but the game is comprised of your darkest parts of your soul and recognizing that he uses them to his advantage” Rize began in a solid tone “He is another Origin, one who put us here”

“Sick” Allen said in a shaky voice “He made me kill all of those people” Allen began sitting in a fetal position.

“Kendra was it?” Lysander began by asking Kendra “You said you knew where Chase was how do you-”

“He is with my daughter” Kendra said coldly “The little wench threatens us to keep him as her servant and plays with him as if he was a doll in her tower”

“Just what is this place?” David said wincing from his stinging joints.

“It’s the City of Ebony like Chase said” Kendra began “But it is more like a hive of sleeping slaves for a Gate”

“You mean to say there is one active right now?” Britt asked as she looked around the room in unease.

“She can’t sense you don’t worry” Kendra began “She’s the seventh gate, the real seventh Gate”

“Wait so how in depth could they control us” Brie began looking at Britt with a glare.

“Even down to the words they can even change the amount of power you have, even imitating the power of a fully enabled Gate, however they cannot affect your natural born talents or thoughts” Kendra began “That's the power of the seventh Gate”

“What does the seventh Gate even do” Lysander looked at Kendra puzzled.

“The seventh Gate” Kendra began “Is Love”

“Just what did we get into Chase” Lysander murmured with a pained expression.

“Don’t worry Lysander, I’ll go save that gay mother fucker” Brie began as she put on her armor “I’m not going to be a dead weight, let’s go rip that Gate bitch apart for using us like tools”

“I’ll go behind you” Britt said, already dressed, forming her greatsword and three separate guns and wrapping them around her back “It’s time we do our jobs like we said we would”

Val and Kendall walked into the room with a sigh as if they had been in a tense run all night long. Looking around the began hugging their friends that seemed as if they had been separated for an entire year.

“Where is Hope, Kendall, Luna ,and Lindsey?” Britt asked.

“On post” Val pointed to the halls “We have been trying to find you guys and secure this building all night long and we have finally cleared it”

“I hear you and Brie are going to go to the Gate” Kendall said “Well you guys go do as we planned, we got these guys on watch”

“Wait!” Kendra said walking besides them “I’ll be going with you, after all this is my daughter, it’s time I took care of this mess”

Kendra’s white outfit seemed to look as if it had in the visioned realm, except it bore more traces of armor and a more brilliant light that seemed to pulse from it. Her aura was that of which fit the description of vengeance, mixed with a sense of sorrow.

“Let’s go clean this up and finish our mission then” Britt said with Brie popping a new piece of gum into her mouth and Kendra nodding in approval.

They all began a dash up the tower and could feel the air race past their faces as the passed through the endless halls. The sense of tension built as they raced to reach the top with the glimmering blue-green lanterns leading their footsteps and lifting them at god speed. They all dashed forward like an army of three bracing for the battle certain to be worth a trial of pain and regrets. 

Lysander’s laughter could be heard faintly in the air “Fool’s ,just how deep have they plundered”


	7. My Heart's to Blame

Chapter 7:  
My Heart’s To Blame

Lysander got off of his table and slowly began walking toward the exit with an occasional stumble as he made his way across the room full of awakened allies. Kendall and Val interrupted his path with their arms and kept him in the room.

“Sorry, you can’t leave it’s not safe” Val began “You’re barely managing to step upright”

With a glare Lysander’s left eye glowed with an angelic white aura as the room began to fill with fog that paralyzed the entire group except Lysander himself. As he brushed aside Val he looked down on her as if he had suddenly switched into an indifferent attitude about them. The paralytic agent was strong enough to stop their breathing and eventually their heartbeats temporarily.

“Never try to tell me what to do” Lysander began walking up the stairs with a stumble occasionally “I can feel a pain, I have to see what’s going on”

He made his way up the stairs as the grimly lit path began to haze and almost vanish as he felt the overwhelming task before him grow greater with every step. Weakness seemed to make his senses dull yet lash back into reality. In the distance he could hear the voices of his allies breaking from the paralysis. He cursed his luck as he began to stumble onto the rough surfaces of the walls and felt the dew grow on his skin. Sweat seemed to drip across his face with the more effort he put into stepping forth. 

In his fading vision he could see a figure, all too familiar rush to his side and help him to his feet. Their balance aided in the speed of getting away from the others, for some reason he felt as if this was an escape from them. Eventually reaching a door they entered into a room, dimly lit with a lantern, almost without effort the door closed behind them with a sound that echoed with a seal of air. 

The figure was draped in a mix of black and red fabrics that seemed to be torn from years of decay, giving the appearance of being aged garments. Under her draped garments, silver armor covered their body entirely exposing no skin as it pulsed with the vivid lights of azure blue through the cracks and kinks between the plates of armor. Their hair and face seemed all too familiar as a friend with a different sense to it at this moment. 

“Seems like I caught you just in time” The voice began “Did you get it?”

“I wouldn’t doubt me” Lysander smiled taking out a necklace of two crystals “One, you know I will always have your back”

“What is happening out there, I’ve been hiding in here while the others think I’ve been taken by Seven” One began.

“It seems that she got us and took Chase from me” Lysander winced as he sat down “No doubt she’s torturing him”

“How can you be certain?” One asked.

“Because, this is new” Lysander lifted his shirt to expose a gash in his abominable area “And because she hides like a pure innocent wench she is, until she is able to torture her toy”

“I can understand your frustration, the others think she is just a little seven year old girl” One snorted “What fools”

“In any case, we need to figure out how we are going to deal with this” Lysander began “If Chase is being tortured it means Chaos is unable to bind with him, which leaves us in a question of-”

“Whether he has become split or worse conflicted” One said with concern.

“Exactly, I do have two little friends who can help us though” Lysander pointed to One’s necklace “Them”

“No, you know as well as me that they are worse than any of us when it comes in terms of power abuse” One began “I would die before I let them awaken”

“Just a thought, don’t worry I think I have a plan” Lysander smiled as he laid his head against the wall “The group doesn’t think you’re One yet so here” Lysander held out a metallic mask “Why don’t you go distract them”

“What would you recommend?” One asked taking the mask and placing it on her face with a smirk.

“Become the villain” Lysander laughed dryly as he closed his eyes “Just like you always had the burden to be”

One smirked with a echoing laugh that would haunt even the darkest of souls as she began vanishing. Around her formed a darkened mist that swirled until it consumed her and she vanished with nothing left to show she had been there. Lysander began sitting in a posture similar to a position practiced by monks when they meditated upon stressful matters. The room lit with a bright flash as he slowly emanated a light with the sparks of what would be a firework.

“Don’t worry, Chase I’ll be on my way soon” Lysander said with a gleam in his eyes.

meanwhile..

“Damn, I can’t believe we got stuck in this damnable room” Brie said as she kicked the walls of an enclosed chamber.

“Seems like she has grown in her intelligence, or rather should I say her games” Kendra sat pondering as to what she could do.

“That bitch is going to pay” Brie said “I hope I get to fucking kill her ass”

“No, we are not trying to kill her” Kendra began “If you did that we would risk all the Origins being unleashed with a vengeance”

“Just what is an Origin” Brie said with a questionable look “They seem to be very inconsistent in their physical forms”

“They are what we would have called “Death the Grim Reaper” in our once thriving world except there isn’t just one there are numerous of them in this place” Kendra said sighing “They are naturally invisible though, there is never a physical form to accompany them so it is a change to see they are in a body now”

“Their invisible? Like a ghost with abilities to kill people?” Brie asked.

“More like a comprised source of at least 100 different people who have been tortured to death and formed into one spiritual harmony” Kendra added “Their harmony is dependent on if they are after the same goal or share a similar personality”

“Like a brain with more brains attached to it” Brie rolled her eyes “Great so how do you kill them, Chase told me you knew how to do it”

“That’s true ,but it is easier said than done” Kendra began “We will need a person who is skilled in Shaman arts to start with, then we need a person capable of summoning a great amount of energy to offset the energy used to keep Origin together”

“Great” Brie said waving her hands in a sarcastic manner “We might as well hold a sign saying ‘Hey come kill us and steal our souls’ because to be frank I don’t think even Hope could manage that much power at the moment” 

“Don’t be so easy to give up, there is always another way, besides we should just focus on getting to Seven” Kendra sighed “It’s useless worrying about those Origin unless we can get out of here”

A loud bang slammed on the door as a muffled voice could be heard in the distance as the door began to glow a brilliant red color. With three burst of air the door burst into pieces flying into the room with a flurry of narrow sharp bits of metal grazed passed Brie and Kendra’s faces. The air in the room began to filter into a easier atmosphere as a familiar figure appeared in the doorway. 

“Looks like I caught up to you two in time” Kendall said laying her spear on her shoulder “Though there probably wasn’t any need for me to rush”

“Where are the others?” Kendra added looking around Kendall “Are they not here?”

“Val is leading them back up the side of the town to the camp we have set up” Kendall said pointing behind her “I’m actually looking for Lysander, he went off on his own in a pretty bad shape and it would be a shame to just lose him here”

“We are actually looking for someone too” Brie added “Britt is no longer with us as you can see, it is likely that Seven has her”

“Well then we have a common goal then, let’s go looking around” Kendall stated “I found a strange looking building not too long ago it’s just a little way down the hall”

Kendra and Brie headed off with Kendall making their way down a dimly lit hallway with a shadowy essence emitting from the doors of the strange room. The hallway seemed to pulsate an unpleasant energy as they went further each step seeming to match the next pulse, eventually causing even the lights to go black with every step. When they had reached the doors that encrypted themselves black with steel markings of ancient tongues ,Kendall opened the doors first and entered with Brie and Kendra behind her.

Tension in the air built as a figure stood slouched over in a position similar to bowing to a lordly figure. The room looked similar to what Brie had experienced in her dream realm almost matching perfectly except this time it was lit by candles alone seeming to add an almost uneasy feeling to it. The figure slowly rose and with a swift turn faced the three newly entering occupants. 

“No-” Kendall said pointing her spear in a manner to signal attack “How are you here?”

“This isn’t good not if she’s here” Brie said slowly pulling out her chainsaw swords and clamping the handles together.

“Who is she?” Kendra asked drawing her dual daggers bracing to attack “She obviously isn’t a good sign”

“We call her Gate One” Kendall began “She’s responsible for all of us losing our families as well as The Collapse, though she was behind the scenes she did have a part in the human tribes beginning the rituals”

“Oh, now isn’t that rude” One began “You know I at least fought on the front lines, the voices of all those men and women still ring like a melody to my ears”

“You’re nothing but a sadist filling her perverted appetite for death and pain” Brie growled.

“Not wrong there it brings me great satisfaction knowing pain follows you all” One sensually dragged her fingers across her body as if wiping traces of invisible blood onto her skin “You all well deserve it”

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Kendall retorted “You always attacked us first”

“Yeah, well let’s keep that consistency shall we” One vanished with a bloody blur and appeared to fill the room with the smell of blood.

With a swift motion One twisted behind Kendall kicking her to the floor and knocking Brie and Kendra away with a gust of punches almost nearly invisible. The unexpected attack left Kendall on the floor gasping for air as One picked up Kendall by her hair and grinned. Brie still stunned from the punches rose to her feet and at first stumbled but managed to launch herself towards One with her chainsaw blades roaring to taste flesh. However One had vanished with Kendall and appeared at the steps of the altar with Kendall missing from her grasp.

“Now that she is dealt with” One began rising into the air with a stance almost divine “Let’s begin” 

meanwhile Kendall awoke elsewhere...

Kendall now found herself in a room with lights that illuminated the room as if it had been daylight as she looked around it formed a more sinister room. Blood dried on the walls like paint and across the wall to her she could see me hanging with both my arms attached to chains which steadily anchored themselves into the ceiling. Now recognizing I was no longer alone as Kendall got to her feet and rushed over to see that I had a blade firmly lodged in my abdominal area. 

“How did you get here?” I said as I tried ignoring the pain.

“I was with Brie and Kendra but then in a sudden moment I woke up here, it’s all in a blur” Kendall began as she looked around the room “What is this place?”

“Seems fortune has cut you short, this is Sevens torture dungeon I haven’t seen her in quite a while though” I began “But our last encounter wasn’t exactly what I could call fun”

“Are there keys somewhere in here to get these shackles off you?” Kendall began looking around “We can’t stay here too long she probably knows something by now”

“I haven't seen anything like a key as long as I have been tied like this” I sighed “I’m guessing she has it on her own person just in case a scenario like this happened”

“Well, you aren't wrong” a small girl appeared from the shadows with a guard holding a man over his shoulder “Too bad this is about to get really unpleasant for one of you two”

The small girl bore an appearance of a ten year old at most with a definite deceiving attitude towards Kendall almost seeming to be a trap with her own aura. Her eyes glowed with a rose red that seemingly matched her rose crown that seemed to blend with her vividly blood red hair. She wore a garment that would seem to fit a gothic lolita, combat boots and all, with the two colors of jet black and a dark blood red color. Her face seemed to echo the features of her mother, Kendra, straight down to the smile she bore as if sinister in itself a dagger ready to soak itself in blood baths. 

“I’ll be fair though” she signalled the man to drop her hostage to the ground and revealed it to be Lysander “I’ll have one of your friends choose between you two for who should be tortured for my little game of cat and mouse”

“You wrench” I spouted “What do you gain from this sick form of entertainment”

“Huh?” she laughed with a dastardly smile “What do i gain, well that’s love of course like you showed me on my last meeting with you, or do you not remember plunging your knife into my back”

“It was not my intention to-” I was cut off by her laughter.

“Not your intention? murder is clear and executed” She kicked Lysander in the stomach as he began wheezing for air “This is merely returning the favor”

“Returning the favor would be simply hurting him in the manner he hurt you” Kendall began “What you’re doing is just plain torture”

“Oh, well it seems you want to partake in this little session” Seven signalled her soldier to pull Lysander to his feet and remove his restraints “Let’s see who you pick little lion man”

“What?” Lysander asked with a hoarse voice.

“The proposition is simple I’ll let Chase go if you’re willing to replace him with that girl there” Seven began “Of course she won’t be spared any expense if she is chosen”

“Lysander, listen you don’t have to choose, don’t become a part to her-” Kendall managed before getting an elbow to her stomach from Lysander.

“I choose to trade you for his place” Lysander said with a glare “It’s not personal”

Kendall fell to the ground with her vision hazing as she saw Seven sit in a chair with a gleeful smile on her face as she watched. Voices rang in the air like a numb feeling had taken her senses from her as Kendall fell into a state of momentarily blacking out. Kendall awoke to herself on a table strapped with leather straps so tight it cut into her skin if she pulled too hard, the room had remained the same except it was now focused on her. Lysander appeared on her right side and slowly clasped her hand with a calm and soothingly eerie expression he rubbed her fingertips as Kendall began to feel uneasy. 

In a swift motion Lysander pulled out a scalpel, firmly ridged it into her fingernail, and ripped her fingernail off bringing some of the nerves and skin under it with it. The pain felt like jamming a hundred needles into your nail with a hammer with a scream mixed with both shock and pain Kendall began to clasp her hands. Sweat began to drop down her face and arms as Lysander moved onto the next finger repeating the process and surely Kendall screamed as it became more and more painful to bear the exposed nerves. Screams filled the room as Seven sat smiling as if it were a show and Lysander continued to rip out all Kendall’s nails one by one. 

This was only beginning as Lysander made his way back to her right side with a scalding blade. Kendall's face dripped with a mixture of tears and sweat as she looked at her hand where Lysander stood over her with a piercingly sharp gaze almost as if he wasn’t there anymore it was as if he acted like a puppet. He tore off Kendall’s clothes that covered her stomach and gently traced her skin seemingly trying to target a spot to fit the sadistic satisfaction of our audience of one. 

“Here” Lysander said placing the blade into her belly button and twisting it causing Kendall to spasm into jerks and twist against the table.

Elsewhere a battle rages on...

Metal clashes echoed in the air as smoke filled the room accompanied by rumbles on the ground as the room filled with turmoil. One twirled through the air gracefully evading a swirl of flurried attacks from Brie and Kendra as the room around the echoed the onslaught. One seemed to dance with an unheard melody as she bent back avoiding punches and twisted to the side avoiding kicks.

“Just what is this woman” Kendra said exhausted from her endless barrages. 

“Supposedly the strongest Gate we have ever met, not even Britt has ever landed a punch onto her” Brie said wiping a sweat from her brow “There is a likely chance she is just playing with us too”

“Well, how else am I going to have fun” One laughed mockingly “It’s not like we see each other a lot”

 

“Don’t you dare refer to us as if we are your friends” Brie pulsed with a faint red color.

Lunging forward Brie ripped the blades of her chainsaw off and attached them to her hands and boots racing forward to be greeted with a smile from One. Brie placed her hands on the floor ,sparks flashing as it grinded against the hard stone, she swung her foot down narrowly missing One. Following that she swung backwards into a flip twisting her feet, now with spinning chainsaw blades bursting with speed, not hesitating Brie braced for a punch and launched her fist straight toward One. 

With a smile One blocked Brie’s punch with her forearm stopping the blades and allowing One to grab Brie and pull her forward kneeing her in the stomach and slamming her into the ground with a punch to the back of her head. Kendra not hesitating to take advantage of the moment dashed forward pulsing her knife with an unseeable energy extending it’s cut to the length of a long sword. Kendra perfectly intervened slicing toward One, as One bent back avoiding it, causing Kendra to kick Brie across the room and out of One's range.

“Looks like I get the pleasure of The Queen of Ebony City” One bowed sarcastically “Oh, don’t tell me you no longer take that name”

“That was a name I disgracefully bear” Kendra unraveled her hair and the air around her simulated with a heavy energy “I’ll show you the cost of you mentioning that name”

“Oh, show me what you got” One spun with glee before showing a stance of surprise.

“Kisala, Queen of All I call upon thee” Kendra whispered as the air in the room filled with a haunting song that seemed to staunch with the effects of death itself.

Kendra’s body lit up with white tattoo’s seeming to form with the pattern of white roses as they grew around her emanating an eerie light. Kendra slowly began to levitate into the air as a white halo formed over her head and behind her formed six chords that seemed to stand perfectly still. Kendra’s clothes slowly grew the appearance of haunting similarity to the Siren Brie encountered in the caves back in the old base. Brie recognizing this covered her ears and closed her eyes as she sat in a corner bracing as a gust of air exploded in the room. 

The room now filled with a strange light and white specks of what would seem to be stars and Kendra’s eyes glowed with a hauntingly direct light towards One. The chords behind Kendra began to vibrate as parts of the air began to cut One’s armor and a song of foreign origin burst the air exposing her to enchanting effects. One launched back from Kendra pulling out an AK-47 and throwing a knife with several grenades toward Kendra. In a flash Kendra disassembled the components of the grenades causing the parts to fall to the ground useless and she launched to One as shots from the AK-47 bounced around her. In a split second almost incomprehensible to the eyes Kendra shattered the right eye of the metallic mask, the entire breast plate, and the left arm of One’s armor. Continuing as if it were merely a combination of attacks Kendra vibrated the chords and in the room a gust of air focused on One cut through her back with a flash of blood coming out as she fell to the ground. The room rattled with an unequalized sensation in power as One rose to her feet in a maniacal laugh and began to emit a pulsing black aura mixed with faint purple.

“I haven’t had this much fun in so long” One laughed as she extended her arm behind her and pulsed a huge abyssal ball drowning out the sound of the room for an entire minute “Show me just how strong you are”

“Impossible!” Kendra exclaimed “This kind of energy-”

“I am an awakened Gate” One began “I’ve committed a True End, you should know this Queen”

“That means-” Kendra quickly dashed to Brie and shielded her with a force field of pure light.

“Good riddance Queen” One laughed mockingly.

One aimed her arm toward Kendra and Brie and with a darkening burst of energy she let the abyssal ball of energy burst towards them. The room grew dark for but a split moment until an unexpected shadow in an almost blurring motion, appeared shattering the abyssal ball into mere fragmentations. The figure materialized into the body of a man no older than nineteen as he withdrew his hand with a smooth motion as if he had just swatted a feather away.

He wore a black and white cloak seeming to almost drift in the wind as if it was always caught in a current almost giving it the visage of levitation. The style of the cloak seemed almost eerily familar yet future based in design, this was not all that was eerily similar. His hair is cut short around the sides, with the top giving a messy look to his hair. The front of his hair has a interesting hued blue streak that as it got further back it turned into a more refined black. He wore a necklace that gleamed with two crystals, one sapphire and the other a brilliant emerald almost complimenting each other. He wore his button-up shirt in a V-shape exposing his chest and it was colored like a gray from lead. He wore pants with a belt holding onto two separate colored chains, one metallic black with the other a metallic silver. His hands were covered with combat gloves with the marks of a foreign symbol. He wore military boots that seemed to compliment his gloves.

“Looks like I made it in time” He turned to Kendra with a smile all to innocent “I kept my promise to my dad after all”

“Who are you?” One clearly irritated “No one can just break that like it was just a piece of glass”

“True that” He turned to face One “But then again I just did didn’t I? so what does that make me?”

“Are you mocking me?” One glared.

“Oh if I was I would definitely cross my arms like so” He crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue in a childish manner.

“Why you have a lot of confidence!” One began another ball but mid-way through it she felt a pulse and began to puke blood “What the hell”

“Even I would know you couldn’t take me on right now after all heroes never die” He looked at her with a twisted smile for what seemed to be a split moment “Leave now and I’ll keep your secret”

“Why..You” One began to vanish into the air “Just who are you”

“Someone to protect my friends and the one I love” the man said as One disappeared.

“What did you mean by promise?” Kendra asked looking at the new figure.

“Oh, it’s nothing as of now” He said with a smile and a friendly gesture “But before we begin lovely introductions where is Kendall”

“There” Brie pointed “I can sense a strange portal in the wall”

“Let’s not waste time then” the man dashed to the wall and opened a portal to make it visible “Tricky this one, let’s go save her”

meanwhile in a room of dread...

Kendall's eyes now filled with a lifeless look as her body laid still on the table almost reaching the point she was distant. Her body was covered in burns,gashes,missing chunks of flesh, and even some parts lacking color and just pure black. Lysander had regained his senses halfway through the torture and laid over Kendall in shock as he swayed to his side while Seven watched with distaste.

“This is awfully boring” Seven yawned “Is she dead already?”

“No I couldn’t have, not like this” Lysander began as he leaned away from the table.

“Well a deal is a deal” Seven signalled her soldier to unchain me as I was lowered from the chains she mocked “If only she had been someone who could play a little longer”

“I didn’t mean to” Lysander walked over to me and laid in a crouched position in front of me “It was the only option I could do”

“Lysander, listen-” I began before he hugged me interrupting my thought.

“You don’t need to excuse what I have done” Lysander began silently “It was bad but I did it anyway, regardless the consequences but it was all for you”

“Lysander, You don’t-” I tried before he continued.

“Can we please... just leave” Lysander managed almost breaking his voice still in shock.

“What a boring outcome” Seven interrupted “guess she is truly weak like One said”

The air around Kendall suddenly pulsed with a burst of electricity and black blood began pulsing out of her body. Uneasy expectations filled the air causing even Seven to be surprised by the unexpected burst of energy. The room filled with a flash of shadows and the floor seemed to float upward as if the room had been flipped and poured with tar. Kendall's eyes filled with an inky color with bloodshot red resonating from her once calming tone of eyes. With a sonic boom wave of energy she transformed her body to be wrapped in a strange form of the shadows and pulling out a brilliantly colored spear and swinging it in a manner almost unpredicted. 

“What is this?” Seven began as she stepped back “No,No way your Absolution”

“You know her?” I glared at Seven “Absolution is a Gate reliant on death, in this manner you’ve merely allowed her to form, kind of sweet revenge right Seven?”

“You fool!” Seven began as she formed muskets around her “I may not be aligned with you but this, you’ve unleashed the leviathan of never dying and in a place with so many Origins it could form into a force for all of us to fear”

“I know very well what I’ve done” I remarked “But to be honest this was unexpected and surprisingly welcoming”

“Chase? how did you-” Lysander began before noticing something.

Lysander pushed me away and in a swift movement he was flung into the wall with an crushing force. When he fell out of the wall and onto the floor his face was drenched in blood and noticeably his arm was broken by the way it laid on the ground. His breaths were very hollow and began to get shallow as his breathing got more rapid from shock.

“Lysander!” My eyes widened in unexpected surprise.

“Target acquired, must terminate” Kendall began crushing the soldier that had accompanied Seven in the room.

“Oh no you don’t” I pulsed with a quick sensation as I launched next to Seven “This is the only exception”

“I’ll take those terms” Seven said with a smile “Just like old times right?”

I awakened my first seal of my Gate releasing a flurry of swords that seemed to drift around me in an orbit and felt my left eye began to glow blue with the shape of a clock replacing the normal pupil shape. Seven didn’t neglect to release her seal as well making her eyes glow with the colors of wild flames and around us formed our own auras of our Gates. The room filled with tension as we braced to face this new ominous foe with an unexpected power.

“Let’s go” Seven said with a gleam in her eyes “It’s about time I had something like this”

“I got you” I grasped one of the many blades and braced for an onslaught of attacks.

As expected Kendall lunged forward with her spear and rapidly swung it with deadly speed that would have surely killed a normal human being that was unable to comprehend the accuracy found in the rapid and berserk movements. I met each blow from her spear with my sword in hand gracing through the flurries as Seven moved around to get behind Kendall. Kendall’s attacks picked up speed until I was met with a final blow, swiftly I spun the blade against the length of my forearm and met Kendall’s spear carefully avoiding the burst of vacuumed air capable of cutting the ground around us causing us to momentarily sink into a crater.

I could see the beast unleashed within Kendall as we momentarily met the gaze of each other as we refracted from the collision. However, unlike me Kendall fought alone and didn’t expect a flurry of guns to surround her upon our weapons separation. Seven took pleasure with a snap of her fingers the guns spun rapidly in a circle and fired bullets comprised of pure twilight energy causing the room to go blindingly bright for a moment. Once the flare of light had died down Kendall stood in perfect stance fitting to a berserker ,and Seven sneered at the still standing attacker. The air itself filled with a staunching smell of gunpowder and smoke. This did not conclude our attacks I dashed to Kendall with two blades, one in each hand, and got greeted with her spinning her spear as a counter. Avoiding the spear I moved around her with speed allowing me to cast after images leaving the confusion of where I was as she continued to use her spear like a mobile shield. Predicting the exact position of the spear with accuracy I moved between her blocks and slashed any exposed openings she had left unprotected. With five minutes I finished my succession and she was crippled momentarily with the sudden formation of each blade strike. Her blood began to pour out as she got into a posture of attack and prepared to repay me in full.

As Kendall launched herself to me Seven took advantage of this and using a twilight chain yanked Kendall by the throat into the ground, tying her up using the sealed chains and shot away her spear all in the same second. With a smooth and seemingly careless walk Seven made her way to Kendall spinning a musket of her own and when she arrived to Kendall she aimed at Kendall’s head and within a split moment an orb of twilight energy formed and shot a ray through the ground. Kendall had escaped using the shift in energy from the musket, Seven wore a grin on her face as Kendall tried to kick Seven. With a laughing smile Seven grasped Kendall’s foot and sent her spinning in a back flip, retaliating Kendall got on her feet and began a flurry of punches. With a blur Seven swung to the sides of the punches and on the last one she grabbed Kendall's fist with a laugh that seemed to be made from pure evil. 

“Now, you shouldn’t attack me in such a dastardly manner” Seven lifted her index finger to Kendall’s heart “Gate lock”

With a flash of twilight energy the room filled with a zone small enough to fit only the room and it began to collapse into Kendall as it’s source. Kendall’s shadows slowly became specs of nothingness as she became her original human form. The rooms air seemed to settle as Kendall collapsed on the ground and the energy of danger left the area. Seven and I sealed our Gate almost in sync and looked at each other in approval of our victory. 

“Seems like this must be her first awakening” Seven began “Still keeping them in the dark I see”

“You have your reasons for your actions and I have mine” I looked to see Lysander unscathed from the battle that had occurred around him.

“It seems you’ve changed Chase” Seven laughed happily “Not that it’s bad though”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I glared at her with disapproval “I only care that he lives because he said there’s a place we can go to seek peace”

“Oh” Seven leaned over looking at me through her strands of hair “I have to wonder if there’s something more to it though”

“Get those thoughts out of your head” I exclaimed “I’m not going soft for a person like that”

“Hm that’s a lie fuck face” Brie and surprised the two of us with her sudden introduction.

“Lilithia” Kendra began and ran over to Seven “Are you hurt? You have a gash on your sleeve, and I just fixed it too”

“Mother, you know the rule-” Seven tried to manage before Kendra began glaring at her in a manner that was almost transparent to the glare Seven gives to her enemies.

"These people are the ones we have been looking for" Kendra sighed "End this fighting now"

"Oh, I see I'll stop mommy" Seven complied with a smile as her demeanor grew more accepting and relaxing.

“Seems everyone is here” the strange man walked to Seven “This is for you, from your father”

“Huh? how do you-” Kendra began before Seven took the amulet handed to her.

“It’s-” Seven opened it to show a photo of her father and quickly closed it “How did you?”

“I got promises I made” the man began “I always keep my promises”

“Who is this?” I asked picking up Lysander and Brie picked up Kendall.

“He saved us” Brie said in a dull tone “Mother fucker is younger than me and I am useless as shit I will not accept this”

“Oh” I mocked “Brie is getting old isn’t she”

“I’ll break your neck” Brie said with a flare of fire in her eyes.

“You guys” the man began as he opened a portal that seemed to go into the air and passed the ceiling like an elevator “We need to head out I’m sure this place isn’t going to last much longer”

“How would you-” Kendra began as the buildings began to slowly disintegrate into a strange spore of light energy.

As Kendra, Brie, Kendall, Lysander, Lilithia, and I all got into the elevator portal the man entered last and the elevator seemed to bring us into the daylight. At first our eyes stung from the sudden fresh light ,but eventually the warm sensations of the sun warmed our skin from the murky depths we had arisen from. The air smelled of the honeydew and pine trees that surrounded us and not too heavy were the clouds as they drifted across the setting sun. Laughter and joy filled the portal as we ascended into the world we once forgot all about since falling into the city. Below us the city slowly broke apart and water seemed to rise from it as the desert around us bloomed into life. Trees of all kinds began to breath and flowers began to bloom along with the water below us which began to bring back the breezes of the wind. 

“The Origin’s their passing on at last” Lilithia looked as the environment of the canyon gradually changed “I’m glad they were able to move on”

“You know it’s almost unreal watching this” Kendra said holding her daughter's hand “Our goal for so long has come true, we can finally leave”

“We can finally meet him can't we” Lilithia looked at Kendra with eyes full of shine “now that all of them are returning to the other realm”

“Maybe” Kendra began returning a smile “what if he has a big house for us to live in too?” 

“Oh wow” Lilithia looked at the skies as the Origin began to disappear “I hope so”

“Yeah” Kendra laughed “I hope so too”

“Winona..” Brie whispered to herself as she saw her long lost friends spirit appear for a moment and smile.

“Take care of yourself Brie since I no longer can” Winona's’ words echoed in Brie's head.

Once we had arrived out of the canyon through the portal we were greeted with David, Hope, Rize, Allen, Luna, Lindsey, and Val all ready to hug and greet us as if we had been away on a family trip without them. They seemed to have already set up a camp and the trailer seemed to perfectly blend into the surroundings as a fire was lit with a roast hanging over it. The tents were already set up and all that was seeming to be missing were us. Lysander had regained consciousness as I held his arm around my neck to keep him up to look at the sunset.

I held Lysander looking off the cliff to watch the sun vanish behind its clouds as it began to set below the mountains that surrounded us,now full of life. Lysander had regained consciousness and control of his breathing as he looked in the distance with me. In silence we both smiled and sat while the group of friends behind us all reunited and laughed as if meeting for the first time in years.

“Beautiful isn’t it” He began “I’d say not better than those stars you love so much”

“You remember very well what I said about that” I said with my eyebrow twitching.

“Hey gaylords come eat there’s a ton of food” Brie shouted “You can both be beautiful butterflies later”

“Now,now princess you wouldn't want to stain your dress with that kind of manner” Lysander mocked Brie pulling his face into a funny expression.

“You little shit!” Brie began as she was held back by Hope who pleaded with her to control herself.

We all gathered around the fire as we were introduced to Deus claiming to be from a distant land and that he had been trying to catch up with us for some time. However, among all the laughs between the friends and the group I felt as if something about him was a little off placing as if he was hiding something from us. Lysander had somehow ended up sitting to my right side with my arm wrapped around him as he made jokes with the group and we laughed in exchange. 

“Chase you seem distracted” Lysander leaned his head into my lap with a yawn “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just strange” I looked down to see him smiling “Something feels off”

“Don’t worry about it, don’t want your head exploding right?” Lysander said as he tried to tickle me ending up in me falling over and hitting the floor “Oh god, I didn’t mean to do that”

“Ow, unnecessary” I said sarcastically rubbing my head “Of all things, this is what I get”.

“Never would have taken you for a ticklish person” Lysander laughed as he helped me sit back up “Looks like even you have adorable qualities” 

“Oh shit did he just say that” Brie exclaimed “You dead now,bruh”

“Huh what do you-” Lysander looked at me to see a glare of death sharply staring back at him “Ahh, no please I didn’t mean-”

“You think I’m adorable huh” I laughed with a singe of maniacally twitching my eyes.

“Even I know that saying that kind of thing would end in your death” Seven laughed fanning her hand.

“Feeling bad for you Lysander than was just plain stupid” Lindsey and Luna almost simultaneously said while nodding in disapproval.

“Come on, Deus help me here” Lysander faced Deus with a face of plead.

“It’s better I don’t get involved and join you six feet under” Deus turned away with a chuckle.

“No not you too” Lysander wailed.

“Oh Lysander” I glared as I pulled two scolding chains together “It’s time we go over some rules again” 

“No!” Lysander ran into his tent with me following after him the noise of laughter filled the air.

“Poor soul” Kendra sighed “At least Chase has mercy”

The sounds of laughter and the crackling of smoke died as the night grew more and more heavy. With the lasting sounds of everyone heading into their tents and sleeping for the night at the moon brilliantly shined above. Its full moon light emanated the forest with life as the owls and other animals came out for their nightly prowls.

Lysander laid on me like a personal body pillow as the night went on. Eventually he left as I was knocked out cold and headed into the forest to seek with someone too eerily unwelcome. He headed out to a ledge with a waterfall under it that seemed to bring mist seeping up into the air as a woman sat on a rock looking at the moon and then to Lysander upon his arrival.

“One it seems you've made it back” Lysander said with a smile.

“You're late” she began with a monotone voice “I thought you said we would meet here at an earlier time” 

“Oh well you know” Lysander rubbed his head in slight embarrassment “love calls”

“I used to know that feeling” One took off her mask and threw it to Lysander “it seems that one of your friends are stronger than you think”

“Oh well looks like I'll be busy for a couple weeks” Lysander sighed “just fixed it too”

“I thought I'd find you here” Deus appeared from the shadows of the trees “Britt”

“You?!” One became on guard and prepared herself.

“Don't worry he's on our side” Lysander began “ or at least I think so”

“I would like to say that I am” Deus chuckled “but I didn't come here to negotiate who's side I am on”

“Then why did you come?” Britt said with uncertainty.

“To keep it short” Deus sighed “to inform you of the false goal you aim to achieve”

“Why do you make such a claim” Lysander asked with confusion “that's pretty bold”

“I make this statement because I know that Britt in control is not from this timeline and is from the future of a different timeline” Deus sighed “and she did not come alone when she arrived here through The Collapse”

“Who was the extra person to come through with her” Lysander stated “I saw her come through alone”

“Chase” Deus continued “He has taken residence on Eden and if you awaken Eden he will also be awoken”

“Are you sure?” Britt glared “If you know anything you know that he is not a joke to mess around with” 

“I am willing to buy this story” Lysander claimed “it wouldn't be the first time something has happened we haven't planned but do you have proof” 

“I do” Deus handed a map to Lysander “We need to go to the Sahara Desert to show you what proof I have”

“Wait so if he is on Eden then what do you propose we do to replace the goal we have the others chasing after” Britt asked with concern “it's not like we can keep them chasing their goals without a reward”

“Awaken Delza instead” Deus proposed “I'm sure you've heard of it” 

“The planet of artifacts” Lysander murmured “is that why we need to go to the Sahara, is the bridge there”

“Yes” Deus nodded “according to my sources it should be in some ruins locked away by the shamans before the war”

“I guess we have a new objective” Lysander looked at Britt “it's time you return the body to its owner and let her have her place in this timeline”

“I agree” Britt sighed as she wiped blood from her nose “she just can't stand to stay asleep as long as this, I'll return to the camp just keep in mind she may wake up with a lot of missing memories be prepared to explain it to her like you have for our past reunions”

“Of course” Lysander approved “it's not a concern to worry about it I'll patch up memories if need be”

“Well this is goodnight” Britt began heading toward the camp “I hope to see you keep your word, Deus”

“Lysander can I give you some advice” Deus asked with a kind expression.

“Sure hit me” Lysander said with a surprised gaze.

“Don't lie to him he hates liers, tell him the truth eventually” Deus said as he began walking towards the camp “I know he doesn't see you the way you see him yet but try to let him know what is really going on”

“I thank you for the advice” Lysander said taken aback “I’ll be off as well make sure you sleep good tonight,because tomorrow we have a long ride”

Lysander headed back into the tent with the face of a tired child as I looked at him in disappointment. The heat in the tent blocked out the breeze from the outside which seemed to chill rather than gently cool.

“Where did you go off to this time?” I asked.

“I was thirsty had to get a drink” Lysander laughed as he laid down next to me “Don’t want me getting all dehydrated now do you”  
“It’s awfully late to just go get a drink alone” I said as I pulled the blanket over us and he hugged me surprising me for a second “What’s this for?”

“Just feel a little scared” Lysander began “Wouldn’t want to lose you like I almost did in the city”

“Come on” I said gently hitting his forehead with my finger “Like I said it’s not your fault”

“But it is my fault and the fact that I did it without second thought” Lysander looked as if he was about to cower in a corner “It haunts me to think I could just do it all without regard for others”

“Lysander, listen to me” I fixed his hair and looked him in the eyes “There is always a dark side and a good side to all of us but the second you let it start to weigh on you it will begin to eat away at you like a parasite, just promise me one thing”

“What is that?” Lysander's eyes gleamed with a new found hope.

“If I should be near death like that again” I held his hand “You will let me go and protect your other friends to keep them safe”

“I'm afraid I wouldn't keep that promise” Lysander looked at me with eyes full of hesitation “because you mean a lot more to me and sadly I wouldn't be able to do it”

“Lysander-” I tried to manage before he grabbed my hand and held it to his chest.

“I will take that promise though” he smiled before dozing off to sleep “because it's something you would do”

“Go to bed already, you're getting too lovey” I closed my eyes and began to drift off with a small smile on my face.


	8. Hidden Regrets

Chapter 8  
Hidden Regrets

Several weeks have passed since we began our trip to the northern states as the undead and feral beast began to herd the southern states for the soon coming winter. We learned from Kendra about what had happened ever since I left the City of Ebony and joined up with Britt ,and began our journey to the Yellowstone. After I left the force of military there ,which had been at the time forcing those who were capable of using magic to get their magic drained from their bodies to allow the military commanders to live longer than they would from the exposure of the corrupted air, took newborn Lilithia and Kendra into their custody and intended to wipe them next for disrupting the peace. However, they failed to recognize the difference in Lilithia and her growth in capabilities and that she had been awakened by my actions which lead her to be the Seventh Gate by birth. Lilithia felt danger was heading towards Kendra and herself which resulted in the entire military dying. Death consumed those who chose to fight against her overwhelming power as a Gate. She had become the new queen in the new City and it had become a place where all dreams and true peace could be achieved. She was raised by Kendra and the City of Ebony’s people as a royal person,displaying a mental development faster and at an adult level when she was only five years old, and was given the seat of Queen once she was able to function on her own.

With the rebirth also came the abilities for her to sense the unseen and the sacred souls we refer to as Origins. The Origin became a main force for her actions and eventually lead the city to be a place where those who resided there became bound to Origins and reached the ability to cast high magics in ways that were almost godly. Little does Lilithia know how I wish I had not caused her to suffer the way she does, she can’t even remember who she really is. This is a pain I feel she will never know I bear, the truth of her life I bear, the love she shared at one time is nothing but a story from another life. The winter has come with its chill in the air like a drifting vessel along the currents of the open ocean. Snow fell like stars returning to their orbits and changing the once beautiful world into one of a clean and renewed slate.

All of our group sat in the trailer once more as we migrated back to Yellowstone to avoid the mass horde of monsters that move south in migration of the dangers the frost of winter posed for them, after all the winters were the holiest of magic cast with each snowflake coming a drop of pure light. The trailer was filled with silence after I opened my eyes feeling the shifts and bumps of the road move the trailer in a rhythmic pattern. Dimly lit by the sun hiding behind the dense gray clouds I only saw by the faint light coming through the half shut window on the top of the trailer.

“Chase” Kendra began in a hushed whisper “Are you awake?”

“I am now” I yawned quietly feeling Lysander laying on my lap “How long have we been moving?”

“Seems like two hours minimal” Kendra sighed “This trailer is killing me, I wonder if we'll be stopping soon”

“Just a little further then I believe it’s our stop so we can pick up an old friend” I smiled and took a picture from my pocket “Remember Teri?”

“No way!” Kendra said with a gasp “Seriously, I have been wondering what she has been up to in all of this”

“Well me and Teri did travel for some time after I left and when I met Britt she decided to set up a base for us to return to halfway to Yellowstone to pick her up annually” I leaned my head against the wall of the trailer “I wonder how she has been this year”

“I hope she has some comfortable beds or at least pillows for us to sit on at least” Kendra looked at Lilithia “It’s been such a relief getting out of there so far, especially after that incident when you left”

Silence filled the room as we both looked at Lilithia before Kindra began again “Her birthday is the same as hers”

“Who does?” Britt said stretching her arms and waking up David who sat next to her.

“Oh nothing just recalling old memories of back when Chase used to be in our old camp” Kendra switched the topic “It was a simpler time too”

“Oh right!” Britt snapped with a bright smile on her face “Back when we used to live daily before the Collapse doing all kinds of trips and trying our best to restore the last of society we had”

“I miss those days too for me at least I was able to only have to worry about my clothes dirty” I said with a sigh on my face.

“Sorry I forgot, it’s been a long time since we have all worked together back before the Collapse” Britt said looking at David “Don’t you remember it?”  
“Well of course I loved the way you used to snore” David said with a hint of sarcasm “I was up all night in a tent in the middle of some place listening to you and your army of pig snorts”

“Didn’t you say the place we are going to was the best fort you ever been to Chase?” Lysander slowly rose and yawned .

“Oh right” Val began “The house we have there per our request each time we visit has the best view of the horizon”

“What wait really?” Deus said with surprise “Don’t tell me you can see the beach horizon when the sun rises”

“You can bet it” Lindsey nodded “It is truly something to witness”

“I’ve heard stories of it” Lilithia rose up “They say at night the sunset could make the stars fall down in a single moment and make time seem to stop”

“Well they did make the world's first base of operations after the worldwide calamity leading to governments crumbling from even the mightiest of nations” Val added.

“You know it is as widespread as you think?” Hope said from the driver’s seat “Turns out after you leave the west side of the states it's only more popular ,because people want to claim control of it but on a fool would even attempt to walk up to Teri’s walls”

“Well, looks like we are approaching her walls pretty fast huh?” Britt said opening the shades of the window and revealing a wall that reached into the clouds.

“The biggest walls I believe even out beating several mountain ranges” Kendall said looking up with awe.

The wall was tall enough to make the mightiest of people awe in it’s glory as it gave off a vibe of the most sanctioned of places almost as sacred as the appearance of the Holy Ghost himself. This meant much more than a God who gave an eternity of peace this meant that life itself was a hope for the future generations and in this desolated world all those who lived knew this impact. The wall was armed with weaponry like no other puting even the greatest of guns to shame as it mass militarized guns out of its own body and protected its citizens within.

“Chase, You ready to unlock the different seals before we get shot into oblivion by this wall?” Lindsey opened the roof of the trailer and put a ladder out and began climbing.

“As always” I said getting to my feet and climbing behind Lindsey “How long you think we have to decode it this time?”

“I think it is now at a five minute limit before our imminent death comes” Lindsey smirked “Wanna bet on if we can beat our record”

“Sure I’ll bet our lives” I braced and began releasing the magical barrier as we entered the firing zone.

“Let’s do this!” Lindsey revealed a mass of fluid which formed into a crystal square before bursting into shattered pieces and floating around the area.

The skies once visible now dimmed out with the aura of the magic energy released by the labyrinth and tinted the visible area entirely blue. Energy condensed circles surrounded me and Lindsey separately and bursted with visions of screens making all other task blurred out drawing us into an almost auto pilot mode. Our feet touched a circle which acted as a surface to stand on and in sync we slowly sat onto the ground before rising up and releasing what would seem to be infinite codes of spells into the air and pulling the cubic block fragments to form together. With each pairing of the fragments a burst of energy was released and seemed to produce a melody similar to a song one would hear at an opera signifying the correct patterns. Together me and Lindsey formed what would seem to be an almost mirrored dance that matched the tone of the musical with the agile steps of a butterfly and swift arm movements of a bird in flight. 

The air shifted from a calm sense to a raging storm once me and Lindsey had reached the middle of the labyrinth puzzle ,but this did not falter us as we continued to move onto the next phase and our tattoo’s began to vibrate with a brilliant glow to accompany our individual energies. I felt control of my body once more but this time adrenaline burst through my system like a explosion of emotion had hit me like a tidal wave from the depths of sanity. We teleported to the collection of the fragments beginning our assault with a flurry of punches and spells and created a newly found puzzle filled with webs of energy that seemed to create a hidden path to several cores required to finish the Labyrinth. Lindsey and I nodded at each other and went after our own core with a swift motion seeming to disappear into the air. I felt the air to the degree that the molecules themselves were noticeable by my every touch as I lept through the web of death seeming to the normal eye to be merely spinning and dodging the webs ,but in this void of vision I could alter the strings themselves and make a path for me to get through. The closer to the core I got it seemed to shine more and more like a bright light until I finally touched it and experienced an unexpected visitor.

“It has been a while Chase” A familiar voice echoed behind me “I hope you haven’t forgotten about me”

“Chaos” I sighed and turned to face the familiar visage “It has been a while”

“Oh I thought you forgot about me, well good then you didn’t forget because I have called to you for a new reason” Chaos grinned “Seems like his plans are moving a lot quicker than I thought”

“Why? What has changed?” I asked with a glare “He seems to be one of the happiest among us”

“Well it’s simple I remembered some things and-” Chaos stopped and vanished.

“Good evening Chase” I hear a feminine voice approach as a white light seemed to grow “I’ve missed you guys and my daughter”

“A-” I began before I was met with a face in front of mine.

“It would be best not to call upon my name here to your friends you’re asleep and most likely talking” she began with a smile and her hair seeming to levitate in the air with her and her ever warm smile “I would like to see you soon I know you’re near me”

“I don’t-” I tried before stopping to her finger being held up.

“No more excuses I want to see you like you promised me” A light began to shine brighter “Remember I’m holding you to your promise”

The light seemed to intense so quickly everything seemed to go blank and I felt numb as well as no sense of being until I saw a sudden burst and felt a sudden gust of air that seemed to be me falling. Voices from past,present,and future filled the area from numerous people as I fell faster feeling the sense of death grasp me by the throat. I felt a glass wall shatter into my face as I leaned up in my bed.

“Whew” Britt sighed “looked like something had knocked you out I was worried that the web had cut you”

“See Britt I told you he was just sleeping like a fucking weakling” Brie said punching David in the stomach “I won”

“Ow” David gasped as he pat Brie on the back “Yeah I know”

“Are we in the town?” I began with a dizziness still lingering in my head almost like a boat at sea.

“Yeah we arrived to it and when you passed out Lindsey had finished opening the Labyrinth and she said you were unconscious on the trailer and we pulled into the nearest hospital with the speed we could manage” Rise said handing me my cloak.

“Now, now guys how should I tell my fellow men outside you are Chase” Teri said coming into the room with a smile and a cigar in her hand “I’m hoping you’re still up for one hell of a catch-up session”

“Oh Teri you know I would never cancel a catch up session” I said getting out of the bed and lacing on my boots to the best of my ability.

“Now then” Brie announced “Let's get prepared to head to the house don’t want to be late because you fell asleep on the job Chase”

“Right behind you” Britt said following Brie out the room with David after her.

“You know she is wanting you to go see her” Teri walked over to me and we walked behind the others as Brie gave orders “The others might not know the truth but Kendra and I do”

“Do you think it really is time?” I asked feeling a tremble in my voice “It has been some time since we parted ways and not in the best of terms either”

“Chase” Teri turned to me and grabbed my shoulder “There is always a time to make amends and now would be the best time to, it’s what she told us”

“Find Lilithia for me then and get me a clear getaway after the viewing I would like it to be just us” I said taking my swords and continuing after Brie “It’s her birthday after all right?”

“Yeah it sure is” Teri said quietly with a tear on her face “The day of her saddest promise, do you feel it? He needs your help to ease his guilts even now after your parting he still looks for you to help him”

I began to jog to catch up to Deus and as we got into the trailer I was met with Hope, Lysander, Kendall, Kendra, Lilithia, Val, Lindsay and Luna all outfitted for the upcoming viewing of the sunset. I felt almost surreal as I felt old memories pop up from the first time I watched the sun rise and set from this fort.

“Where are the others going?” I asked Deus as he closed the trailer doors and we started moving.

“They said something about going to another viewing whatever that means” Deus shrugged his shoulders “at least that’s what Brie told me though I’m not sure what kind of viewing she meant”

meanwhile...

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need to stretch my legs. I saw a marketplace not far from here on the way in. Anyone want to come with me?” Brie gave her friends an expectant expression, her eyes moving from one person to the next.

They had finally reached their destination, but settling in presented new problems. The mansion they would be staying in was waiting for them in this distance. However, They’d been on the road at least six hours--the more overly dramatic of the bunch would insist it was twelve hours--and everyone was all but exhausted.

“I’ll go. Britt, you wanna go?” David nodded at Brie and then smiled at Britt, gently squeezing her shoulder. 

“I would love to,” She replied, standing. “Anyone else?”

“Oh God, please someone else come. I am not third-wheeling to these two.” Brie sighed.

Rize chuckled. “Well, we wouldn’t want that, now would we? Allen, why don’t we don’t we take a stroll?”

Rize gave a half smile to Allen, and Allen nodded. “Why not? I think we could use a little relaxation after that cramped ride”

“Thank GOD,” Brie cheered enthusiastically, “let’s go.”

Though Brie feigned apathy at the selection of people accompanying her, she was silently thrilled that Rize was joining them. Thrilled, but nervous, as she could feel a new excitement rushing through her hands every time she looked at him. 

The rest of their crew remained behind to go to a separate viewing of the horizon festival closer to the mansion , but they failed to notice that another member had slipped out behind Brie and her group: Lysander, who went off on his own.

Approaching the marketplace, the sound of distant music filled their ears. The closer they got, the louder the music got, along with the chatter of haggling and bartering among sellers and buyers. The marketplace was as traditional as they came for a festival. The shops were made of luxurious wooden panels and signs with ,what used to be called, fancy painted lettering, and the merchandise was placed in full view of the passing crowds. Strolling by each stand produced its own atmosphere with each merchant smiling and happily greeting with each person that drifted by their stand.  
Each member of the group lingered at a stand or two, admiring the items laid out before them. Britt found a dainty quartz necklace, and David didn’t hesitate to buy it for her. He was always doing that, despite Britt’s embarrassed protests that he not spoil her so much. Nearby couple’s smiled as they passed the pair and over heard Britt.

Allen wandered off on his own, peering at jewelry here and there. He was lost in thought as he followed the group closely drifting behind them as they passed by different shops--he ended up drifting too far away and ended up near the beach listening to the waves crash on the shoreline. Taking off his shoes and socks he looked up at the sky above him and smiled enjoying the view above him.

Brie and Rize took turns terrorizing the various sellers, bargaining with them until the seller dropped the price so low that it was Brie and Rize profiting. They each walked away with new foods and various supplies at greatly discounted prices.  
“You know, we make a pretty damn good team,” Brie observed, stuffing newly purchased medicine in her bag. 

“I daresay we do. Oh, these are nice,” Rize stared at a silver embroidered ring with Allen’s favorite gem, a sapphire “How much for the ring?”

The seller of the stand smiled. “$100.” 

Brie snorted. “A hundred dollars? No. You and I both know it’s not worth that much.”

“That doesn’t make it any less. $100 or it stays with me.”

“Rize, come on. This guy is weird. There’s plenty of other stuff to buy.”

Rize nodded, and took notice of his brother down at the shoreline. “I’m going to go see what Allen is doing.”

“You do that,” Brie responded with glee at her new favorite item for sale “I’m going to look at these knives!”

Brie gestured at a shop next to the one with the silver ring, and Rize disappeared. As soon as he was out of sight, Brie stepped back to the jewelry stand.  
“Alright, listen. I’m going to buy that ring, but I’m not paying over $90.”

“No can do,” the seller sneered, “One hundred.”  
“Well, you’re a piece of shit,” Brie muttered, glaring as she payed for it.

The five eventually found themselves wandering out to the same beach after discovering the boardwalk connected to the marketplace. The ones still at the marketplace walked down to join the two brothers at the waves. Britt kicked off her shoes, as she always does, and David did the same. They stepped into the waves as they lapped on shore. David took a hold of Britt’s hand before she could react.

“Hey, sweetie--are you okay? You’ve seemed a bit out of it lately.”

Britt gave him an inquisitive look. “Out of it? I’m fine. Just still not used to this new life, I guess. I miss our old one.”

“I miss it, too. We’ll make do with this one, okay?” David smiled affectionately at Britt as she nodded, and he met her with a kiss.

“...You’re sure you’re okay?” David inquired once more, staring deep into Britt’s eyes.  
Britt averted her own eyes, unsure why she felt the need to do that. “Honey, I’m fine. I promise.”

Mostly satisfied with that response, David took Britt’s arm in his and they continued along the shoreline smiling and reminiscing over old stories.

Allen looked at his brother as Britt and David walked into the distance towards the mansion “Remember when mom and dad would do that and we would sit here like this just watching the sun go down”

With a smile Rize looked back at his brother “And we used to count how many seconds it would take until it would completely disappear so we would know when to walk back home”

“I remember the old games we used to play like pretend sword fighting--winner was king” Allen chuckled “You always won though ,but every time you chose to let me be king”

“Everyone’s got their treasure in this world right? Plus, I know you still want to be the first one to claim the stars as part of your ‘kingdom’” Rize laughed “Even if it was an impossible goal from the beginning”

“Well aren't you motivating” Allen sighed “But do you still remember ,even if it was in our childhood, how we used to plan to be the kings who ruled together”  
“Well of course and trust me” Rize jokingly pushed on Allen’s shoulder “I would never want it any other way”

“Looks like you still dream as big as I do” Allen got up dusting himself off and grabbing his shoes “Looks like your new friend is back, I’ll see you back at the mansion”

“You can stay it’s not like she bites like me” Rize chuckled splashing water at his brother.

“It’s all good I need to unpack our stuff anyways” Allen walked by himself once more, giving space to Brie and Rize. 

“Hey, Rize--do you have a reason you like gold jewelry? I just saw the way you were looking at a few as we passed by them, and you have me curious.” 

Rise laughed. “You caught that, huh? No real reason. I just like it, I guess.”

“What kind of bullshit answer is that?”

“The only bullshit answer I have,” Rize smirked at Brie. She hated when he did that; he always made it look way too damn good. 

“Okay, fine. Be mysterious.”

“On the subject of questions--”

“Oh, dear God.”

“--I was wondering why you didn’t buy yourself anything,” Rize finished “you always seemed to be buying for others”

Brie paused for a moment. “Because the team needs supplies more than I need fancy jewelry. Why else?”

“Fair enough. Awfully selfless of you.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t get used to it,” Brie checked the time on her phone. “It’s 9 o’clock. I’m going to head in while it’s not a totally unreasonable time to be unpacking. See ya. Tell your quiet brother I said he needs to talk more.” With that, Brie began her walk back to the mansion.

Rize soon walked back to the mansion and noticed it was empty from those who has separated from his group earlier. He headed up to his room to see Allen still unpacking and suddenly stop to immediately go up to his brother, and placed an arm on his shoulder. 

“I think she likes you.”

Rise raised an eyebrow. “Back up a minute. She likes me? No. She does not. And what makes you think I like her?”

“You’re my brother, Rise. I can tell. I just wanted to point it out, since you can’t seem to see it yourself.”

“I… for fuck’s sake. You can be a real pain sometimes, you know that?”

“Aren’t all little brothers?”

Rise squeezed his arm around Allen before sighing. “You think I should do anything about it?”

“No, I’d let things take care of themselves. Just be careful. There’s something about her that I don’t like.” 

 

Rise shrugged and changed the subject to other mundane things. The mundane things were appreciated, however. He had been beginning to feel like nothing could be normal--mundane--again. Just having his brother to talk with brought back the sense of normalcy at least a little.

 

At the other viewing...

Before they noticed as the fireworks were starting and the crowd was calling, signalling the start of the festival, I snuck off the stage and down a staircase behind stage heading into the dimly lit parking lot below. Eventually I made my way to the streets as I saw a black car flash its lights and got into its back seat. Kendra,Teri,and Lilithia had already arrived in the car before I had. Faint music as if the stereo had been dulled out by its lowest volume and constant use filled the car along with the faint smell of morning dew.

“Took you longer than it did me,huh?” Kendra remarked proudly “Guess Deus kept you?”

“Actually yeah he wanted to talk to me really bad about something but it can wait until later” I sighed.

“So are we all ready?” Teri asked as Lilithia nodded.

“Where are we going?” Lilithia questioned “I mean it’s just us where could we be going”

“Somewhere that you should have been long ago” I said with a cold emotion “Somewhere I promised to a friend I would take you once you were able to”

The atmosphere grew uneasy as we made our way through the forest and soon it grew dark with only the moonlight showing the path ahead of us as the city lights died behind us. The road grew more rigorous as we headed onto a dirt path and lost the stability of pathed roads. The sound of rocks under the tires and hitting our car echoed as we made our way progressively through the forest until we reached the darkest part. We got out and locked the car as it beeped the echo carried for miles through the shifting trees. The forest seemed much to be a sacred ground as it filled with mist and dew with only the moonlight to light our path as we slowly walked through the branches and pathways. 

After what seemed to be an hour of voyaging through the cracks and snaps of branches and leaves we eventually reached a wide open space in an almost perfectly circular formation as the wind whirled the mist in a way that showed only a single gravestone in the middle of the area. As we made our way towards it we could see green moss covering its top and vines along with grasses growing below it to the point the name was unreadable. Teri and Kendra stood a few feet behind me as I knelt in front of it and lit a candle and prompted Lilithia to sit next to me.

“It’s time I told you” I began “About the past that I’ve caused for you and about all the things that should have been”

“What do you mean?” Lilithia said concerned as I lit a candle and aura lights appeared across the open sky above us.

“It’s time I told you a story” I turned to her “A story of your mother”

“What do you mean? Isn’t she right behind me?” She asked with puzzled “Is it a good one?”

“She would be but there is a secret you should know...a dark secret about what Kendra really is to you” I said looking to the stone.

“I don’t think I like this secret...or this story” Lilithia began.

“Yeah I don’t either” I said moving the lower branches from the name when Kendra and Teri sat down behind us and I could hear their silent sobs.

“What’s going on?” Lilithia looked at them then me.

“It began four years ago, In the City of Ebony your mother was pregnant with you and we were not allowed as much freedom to have children ,because the men running the City at the time were trying to minimize their exposure to the elements that were killing them. Of course love comes in unexpected ways and she never expected it ,even with the risk of dangers she could face she accepted it none the less. To her you were the world even though your father was punished afterword for a trial where he defended Kendra against being wiped from the city in their weekly extinctions of the city. Things after that were taken up by Kendra and I as we tried to support her through her pregnancy, we lived a pretty happy life as a family by bond. Of course came the time when you were to be born ,and in an attempt to protect you we tried to escape. We crept through the sewers and the aisles of the city making our way slowly to the exit however near the end when we were halfway down the secret path your mother couldn’t go on any further. She had given birth to you ,but we were detected through all the commotion of your birth. Your mother told me you were “The best present for her birthday” and that she always wanted to see you grow up. I made a promise to get you to safety and keep you from forgetting about her, however I never expected that the military would spot us as soon as they did. So your mother protected us by laying on the ground as we hid in the chambers ,we watched her die as they let one of their monstrous excuses of dogs rip her apart but her last emotion wasn’t fear but happiness. We were pursued until we were trapped by the military in which my only option was to knock Kendra and you down the only exit we had available at the time and blew it up. I protected you in the best way I could ,but it was not enough I fought them until my energy drained and fell into the raging rivers that filled the city. I awoke eventually in the middle of the desert I had done my best ,but even still I didn’t succeed. I had always thought you were safe, it’s sort of ironic today would be her birthday as well as yours” I wiped the dust away from the name bar.

Amber Tate  
Loving Mother and Loved Friend

“She wasn’t the only one to have suffered on that day” I continued “All of my friends who are still searching for their families, they have no idea what has really happened to them after all”

“How could it be your fault?” Lilithia questioned.

“Because of my inability to control what happened to me ,When I had the XIII gate sealed and rebirthed into me I didn’t know how to control it and was sent to my friends as bait. When they found me my trap had already been activated. We used to have full families to ride with us in that trailer ,but that is no longer able to happen because I was a wiping trap that caused all my friends to involuntarily become gates by killing their own families in the gruesomest of ways. All the women had their bodies mangled in ways that kept them in constant pain and the men were stripped of their flesh strand by strand ,I had no idea what had been put inside of me at the time. I was the reason they killed their families and why they can’t remember it.” I took out a rose and set it next to Amber’s grave as the mist around us cleared away to reveal numerous other stones.

“It was never your fault Chase” Kendra wiped her face and sat next to Lilithia “You had no idea what had been awaiting you”

“I should have!” I exclaimed “This is all blood on my hands if it was my hands or not that were willingly doing it”

“Chase..” Teri added “These are-”

“My guilts and reasons why I never hold myself up to the task of facing Amber, The last promise we made I could never keep it and I knew it” I placed my head against the stone “I feel all their hatred as it burns through the trees”

Behind us in the distance Lysander watched silently trying to keep it within himself to remain hidden. He sat crouched on the ground with his hands in fist and anger written on his face mixed with hatred and sadness. 

“Why...Why does it always happen” Lysander silently gasped as he felt emotions escape.

Brie ,Hope ,Luna ,Lindsey and Deus emerged from the trees near Lysander and remained low and out of sight. Keeping their movement and voices at a low as if trying to sneak and overhear the conversation. The trees seemed to blow with a whisper as wind gently went through them.

“What’s going on out there?” Lindsey asked “Why are they all in the middle of a field of gravestones it’s pretty creepy”

“I’d talk with more respect around here Lindsey” Brie hissed “It’s impolite to talk to the dead like that and judging off of their reactions it must be someone really important”

“Who though? We haven’t buried these tombstones here before I get a feeling I would remember” Luna suggested “Maybe it’s just a long distance friend?”

“It’s Amber” Deus said with a hint of pain in his voice “Her name is written on the stone”

“Now listen here you bastard” Brie grabbed Deus by the throat and shoved him to the ground “We don’t joke about people like that”

“How could you even say a name like that Deus?” Lindsey pulled out a knife.

“He’s not wrong” Lysander interjected “This is her memorial because it’s her birthday”

“How would you know that?” Kendall said as Britt,Val,and David come out of the trees from the opposite way.

“Because today is Kendra’s birthday and she told me when we first started camping that she always remembered a girl named Amber and by the way she talked about her I would say they were practically soul sisters, she spoke to me about keeping it hidden from you guys but she always comes here to mourn her while keeping you guys believing she's still out there” Lysander stood up and began walking towards the graves.

As he left they followed and approached us slowly carefully making their way through the foggy floors of the forest and maze of the gravestones. Once he reached me I could feel him sit behind me and place a flower on the floor in front of him.

“Chase..” Kendra stood up slowly “What are you guys doing out here?”

“We were concerned when two of our members just suddenly disappeared and weren’t at the house” Britt said while looking at the grave.

“Is-is this Amber?” Brie felt the grave and kneeled as she placed a rose on her gravestone “She was always a person who gave even the darkest of days a light”

“Come on guys” a female voice echoed as the trees stopped blowing in the wind “I didn’t want tears of sadness for my birthday”

“Amber..” Teri and Kendra looked at the spectre which glowed brilliantly with Amber’s smile.

“Are you..? my mother Chase spoke of?” Lilithia slowly walked over to the spectre and held out her hand.

“It has been a while my dear” Amber held out her hand and smiled when their hands both met and Lilithia glowed with the same radiance Amber gave off “you look all grown up too”

“Why have you been gone so long” Lilithia asked with tears in her eyes as she hugged Amber.

“Now, now it’s okay I forgot that you see spirits as the living would see each other, I always wished I could have seen you grow up, you remind me of myself” Amber said embracing Lilithia in her arms.

Behind Amber came the spectres of all the others buried along with Amber all baring smiles of relief on their faces and having wings to give them a heavenly appearance. The others looked around at their family members as I slowly stood up and saw my old cat, which had died when Amber she was pregnant and Amber had said kept following her around, make its way towards me.

“How have you been little lady, has she been treating you well?” I asked as I pet her for the first time feeling warmth seep into my fingers in ways that seemed almost alienating “I see, you’ve been waiting for me to come here sorry to keep you waiting”

“Chase” Amber called over to me “We don’t hold what happened to us against you in fact you held to your promise to all of us”

“You made a promise to all of them? why is that?” Britt looked at me amidst hugging her parents.

“Because I promised them to keep them a part of you even in their deaths, and now they are going to be able to give you what I took from you” I said as I slowly reached out and they followed my gesture holding out their hands as what seemed to be stars began to glitter down and they all began to see their family members and how they had been ripped from their lives along with all of the families wishes of protection and happiness regardless the torture they were put through.

“Don’t blame yourself too much” Amber said as the area began to glow and hum as a low sung lullaby filled the air “You have new happiness to fill your life stop focusing on us I know it has been ripping at you I’ve been with you through all of those moments of regret”

“Amber, could I?, the deaths I’ve caused they still haunt me even now” I said as she slowly began to rise.

“Then let this be rest for you” Amber turned my old cat’s bell into a new one “She is the sign that we forgave you long ago”

“This feeling” Kendra gasped as a slowly appearing light began to shine in the distance above us “It feels so warm”

“Mommy wait it’s too soon to go” Lilithia cried out as Amber rose higher than she could reach.

“It’s okay honey, Mommy is gonna go for a little while just remember to listen to Kendra and do as she says and be safe” Amber said wiping tears from her eyes “Don’t forget to sleep on time and keep smiling for the strong times and the weak, never let fate control you and always have hope” Amber had began to vanish with the other family members as the air filled with the lullaby of a flute finishing its most beautiful song.

“I love you mommy” Lilithia said as she fell to the ground and felt her necklace “I’ll always remember what you did”

 

As we collected our tears, and the sky slowly lost the hues of light our families spirits gave off, we headed back to the house for the first time by foot in a while and we listened to the birds sing the nightly songs of peace. As we walked back I looked back to see my cat still behind me but slowly walk into the forest and vanish from my sight giving me a refreshing feeling I haven’t felt in a long time.

The house in a distance was barely noticeable but once we had arrived one could compare it to the size of the White House in all of its walls and rooms even with the large yard as well. Teri had said her farewells and waved us goodbye as she headed out to her next mission which would mean she wouldn’t be able to see us leave in a few days. While most of the group went into the house to deal with the night’s heavy emotions in their own way Kendra, Lilithia, Lysander and I headed toward the fountain pool where the water was so peaceful it merely reflected the night sky like a mirror.

Fireflies illuminated the yard and the trees as the air smelled freshly of pines and drifting air and refreshing sense of relief. Lysander sat next to me as we put our feet into the pool and I rested my head against his shoulder in a silence that filled us both with peace. For once I could feel the air settle and not feel a rushing sense of duty to get something done and felt tired for the first time in four years as my eyes watched the pool water. Kendra and Lilithia sat in the middle of the pool on an underwater bench that looked up to the stars with lily pads that glowed with various lights surrounding them giving the air around them a truly peaceful sensation.

“Even though I know that you might not be my mother by blood” Lilithia said with a gleam in her eyes “I still see you as my mommy”

“You know you don’t have to call me that now that you know the truth” Kendra sighed.

“I know ,but to me you have a special place in my heart just like Mommy did for me” She said gladly “I’ll always love you”

“I will too baby” Kendra hugged Lilithia and they sat looking up in the stars “I will always love you too”

“Why can’t we ever have moments like those?” Lysander chuckled trying to lighten the mood “It’d be nice if we did just once”

“You think so?” I looked at his eyes lifting my head from his shoulder “I mean I know I’m not perfect but even after tonight you still want to be with me?”

“I see no more stress on you for a first time since I’ve met you” Lysander touched my hand “This is probably the first time I think you have been this close to me without telling me to move away”

“Well there is always a little closer” I tilted my head looking at his eyes as they gleamed with his blushing cheeks.

“Really? Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Lysander looked a little surprised as I laughed to it.

“I am not denying it am I?” I sat a little closer to him “So what-”

I was felt a warm touch on my lips with his own before I could continue my last sentence. I closed my eyes feeling his hand grip mine and the moonlight shine on us as the world seemed to stop around us. Warmth of the world I have lost feel of I felt again in a single minute with every song of the greatest moments of my life seemed to play as memories of when I first met Lysander flowed through my mind.

“How was that for close” I said slowly taking my lips off of his.  
“I’d say that would be the death of me a month ago” Lysander giggled as he pointed to Lilithia and Kendra looking at us.

“I got that on camera Chase!” Kendra exclaimed “Guys Chase just kissed him I called it!”

“Gaylord I fucking swear” Brie could be heard from within the house along with laughs that seemed to follow. 

At the brothers room door...

Eventually the while the others turned in, returning to the mansion Rize went to his room yawning from the long day. Upon arriving to his own room, Rise found a small wooden box next to the door. He asked Allen about it, but Allen expressed only confusion. Opening the box revealed the ring he’d looked at in the marketplace, wrapped neatly in silk cloth. 

“Who--? Only Brie saw me consider buying this. Only… Brie.”  
Rize smiled to himself, then disappeared into his room.


	9. Labyrinth of the Mind

Chapter 9:  
Labyrinth of the Mind

The previous night I remember in a blur of colors, it seemed that I passed out rather than actually falling asleep for once. I opened my eyes with a strong groggy feeling as I looked around the room it was still dark with a faint shade of the sky being almost morning. Starlight filled the room through the window allowing me to see the curtains of the bed above me slowly drift and I felt a hand holding mine under a pillow. I turned to my side to see Lysander still sleeping, knocked out cold in fact that he didn’t even feel my hand let go of his as I lifted myself up. 

My head felt light headed and a little dizzy but I looked at Lysander to distract myself and saw his bare back as he laid stomach down with the blankets under him. His soft breathing seemed to soothe me as I slowly gained awareness about my surroundings. As I became more awake I could see he wore my grey sweat pants so I can only guess he ransacked my clothes, he had no socks on either. This was something I had no energy to deal with at the moment so I just got out of bed and began out of the room into the halls. On the way I put a loose shirt on and slipped on some gym shorts before opening the door and entering the dark hallway.

Darkness crept along the walls like spider webs clinging to corners as I made my way through the halls making my way to the stairs. Picture frames passed me one by one of different art paintings that had been given to us for the past couple years I admired a few as I passed by them but continued into a grand opening where a crystal chandelier hung in the center of a room with two sets of staircases spiralling downward onto the first level, two floors below me. Dimly lit orbs set into a night mode lead the way down with a peaceful light that was an almost sky blue. 

I made my way down while yawning and rubbing my face to clear away the grogginess and to wake myself to start the day early since we still had to head up to the Yellowstone by twilight tonight. I hear a set of footsteps shuffle past me as I stepped down the 2nd floor and headed down onto the first floor, must have been someone up as early as me what harm could it do. I reached the first floor where the ceiling was so far up the halls and rooms of the floor seemed to gape open into a canyon.

Light shined in through the windows as I made my way across the smooth tile dragging my feet making my way to the kitchen appreciating the silent air. The walls much better lit seemed to provide a much more calming atmosphere to them as I went to the cabinets and grabbed my tea bags and began brewing my tea. I sat at the counter next to the brewer and laid my forearms on the counter as I tilted my head back to look up at the glass window on the ceiling above me. So many changes have happened since the junior year at highschool where we only started to fight the unknown enemy. I could almost feel nostalgic as I reminisced in the past and all the different memories we held of all the good times we had through the years before our war. I heard the brewer finish making my tea and went to sit down at a table nearby and sat there before looking out the window to see the sun's faint violet glow appear in the distance behind the mountains signalling for morning to come.

I sat there for a moment embracing the scene before deciding to go back upstairs to prepare for the day that I could feel was already prepared to enter a chaotic start. As I dragged my feet against the smooth steps I heard a burst of shattering from down the hall of the second floor. I feel a shiver go across my back before looking down the hall to see a thin row of light from a bathroom, I set my cup on the step and head into the darkness of the hall following the light.

“Hello? Is someone in here?” I ask as I hear a shifting in the bathroom as if someone is rummaging the soaps and hitting the walls. 

Faint whispering could be heard as I slowly opened the door to find Britt looking into the mirror with a stare that seemed to haunt her own expression. She had blood dripping from her hands and forehead as she looked into a shattered image of herself in disbelief. I cautiously held my hand out to grab Britt’s shoulder ,but before I could touch her she turned to face me quickly and cut my palm with a hidden shard of the mirror.

“Stay away, I don’t know you!” Britt exclaimed as she fell back against the wall “Where am I? This isn’t the school!”

“It’s okay Britt, it’s me, Chase. We are inside a mansion at our headquarters, is everything alright?” I asked wincing and wrapping my hand with my shirt “That was a little bit too much don’t you think?”

“What happened, why can’t I remember coming here and having changed my features so much?” Britt asked with aggression in her eyes.

“How much don’t you remember? This is a place you have loved to come to for the past 5 years, every year for our migration north” I said holding my hand against my chest.

“I don’t remember this place at all last thing I was doing I was about to get ready for class and then I got hit on the head and fell unconscious from a sudden explosion” Britt stood still looking over my shoulder and her eyes lit up with fear “Get away from me I won’t tell you again!”

“Britt what do you see? There is no one here” I looked over my shoulder to find nothing there “There is no one there”

“How do you not see her the demon dripped in blood with a murderous aura surrounding her I can hear the voices of screams, people, friends, family, even children I can hear them all” Britt dropped the glass and clenched her ears. 

Doors could be heard opening behind me as others began to mumble down into the hall. Footsteps seemed to pick up pace as they got closer with them rushing down the stairs, Lysander came into view first and he sprinted over when seeing me with my hand wrapped in a shirt. His eyes filled with worry and confusion glimmered as he reached closer and took hold of my hand.

“What happened here?” He asked as he applied more pressure to the shirt wrap. 

“I think something is wrong with Britt she seems a little out of it” As soon as I finished explaining it to Lysander, Britt dashed out of the bathroom and down the stairs bumping into Lindsey ,and Luna. 

I hastily wrapped my hand and dashed after Britt and was followed by Brie, Hope, Lindsey, Luna, Kendall, Kendra, Lilithia, and Val one by one as they saw us running after Britt. I followed her through the halls of at least six parts of the house as she dashed outside the back door. I could feel the slight sting of my cut as my palms got sweaty. Once outside the skylight had become a little brighter making the dew on the grass shine faintly. There was a slight smell of campfires and forest pines that seemed to go unnoticed as I saw Britt head into the garden of black roses. 

Brie caught up with me before asking “What is wrong with her? She seems legit scared out of her mind”

“I’m not sure I am about as lost as you are” I huffed as we sped up through the roses “Why of all places did she have to go into this garden?”

“Look she's standing still” Brie said slowing down.

“How odd” I said as the others caught up and walked with us all towards Britt “Guys be careful she is a little on edge make sure she doesn’t try anything reckless”

“You guys should be the one who is careful” Britt turned to us “She’s here!”

“Who is here?” Val asked “No one is here”

“Do none of you see her right before you! She is right here!” Britt began breathing heavily “Just look at her!”

“Have you lost your damn mind?” Hope called out to Britt crossing her arms “There is no one here ,and you’ve cause a big commotion for nothing”

“Now isn’t that rude” A woman with a purple and ebony priestess cloths appeared in a blur of purple mist above us “I was having a great time watching in the shadows”

“Kelsey!” Brie tensed into an aggressive stance “What do you think you are doing here?”

“Only waiting for my orders, oh-” Kelsey’s eyes gleamed bright purple and a grimly smirk went across her face “I understand, I’ll start it now”

Kelsey lowered herself to the field of roses and as her barefeet touched the ground the flowers lit on fire with a purple glow. She twirled and her hair and clothes swung around with a swift turn, as she took out an orb that broke into smaller shards and levitated around her. Brie lunged forward followed by Kendall and they were met with an unexpectedly quick sprint from Kelsey.

With a gleam of insanity in Kelsey’s eyes she started with Brie, first pulling her arm forward and kneeing her in the stomach, then dodging a punch from Kendall as she spun back and aimed shards of the orb and shot them at her. Kendra and Lilithia came from behind Kelsey with a dash that synced to begin a trap, however Kelsey quickly summoned a pair of scythes and knocked them both back with a blow to their heads. Kelsey laughed as she watched them fall as if she was in glee of the upper hand of the fight. 

“Now that we have woken up a little bit why don’t we get to the reason I am here” Kelsey threw the pair of scythes behind her and they began to circle each other and glowed as a portal started to form and suck us inside.

“Chase-!” I heard Lysander call out in the distance before I felt my foot slip and I got absorbed into the portal.

A light in the distance suddenly grew and glared at a sudden intensity my eyes burned a little even as I held my hands over them. A faint lullaby sang before all noise went deaf and all sight went black. I felt as if I was falling but with no end to be seen. 

A cold drift of air went up my back before I felt a gentle force set me on my foot onto a hidden floor of pitch black. I saw a familiar blue flame that seemed to emit warm vibes as it was joined by many others that lit a path. Around me seemed to be a forest of pitch black that seemed to give off an ink like texture. Hearing a small voice in the distance I followed the path and with each step I felt a little closer to a light. Darkness covered the whole world only a blue flame to guide me, this was an uneasy presence. Soon I saw in the distance an altar, I could feel my heart race with excitement as I picked up my speed and began to run there. Upon getting there it seemed to be missing something, it was an altar made of blue crystals that seemed to glow very dimly. There was a strangely placed casing that seemed to hold an artifact at one point. 

I drifted my fingers across the crystals and it was deceptively smooth, I noticed my cut on my palm was fully healed. I could feel a presence in the area and I grew to have chills realizing I wasn’t able to see it or defend myself. The blue flames had vanished entirely and I felt a strong feeling of dread suddenly take over as I felt like the darkness was about to swallow me.

“Who’s there?” I called out “I know you’re there!”

“Now, it seems you do” Rize said as he stepped out of the darkness onto the altar “Seems we are in a predicament”

“Why is that?” I asked confused “What is this place?”

“This place? It’s limbo a hidden reality special to only you as a Gate, however I am here because of ties to these kind of realms” Rize turned quickly to face the forest.

“What is it?” I whispered and carefully squinted but failed to see any movement.

“He is here, come on let’s go we can’t be here” Rize said as he grabbed my arm and darted us off into the forest in an opposite path that I had come from.

“I know you can hear me, Chase” I heard Chaos’s voice echo “That man is guiding you to your death, run from him into the darkness I’ll find you”

“Chaos..” I whispered under my breath.

“What was that-” Rize tried to finish before I jabbed him in his side and knocked him to the floor before running off into the forest nearby as he wheezed “Chase! No! Come back!”

I ran through the forest with thick ink like twigs snapping under my feet and I pushed branches aside as I heard Rize gaining speed behind me. I could feel the branches whizz past me as I eventually got into an opening and jumped behind a cluster of rocks and logs. I crouched behind the bushes and looked into the opening through a split of a log to see Rize rush out of the trees looking at the trees around him.

“Chase, come on it’s not safe trust me whatever it is you are thinking it would be better to worry about it later” Rize ran back into the forest as a snap of twigs echoed in the distance.

I slowly turned to face the forest behind me to find a familiar face staring back at me. He was much more in depth than the previous time I had met him in my visions and seemed to be an almost entirely remade person. He smiled and held out his hand with a friendly gesture.

“It’s been a while my old friend, It’s nice to finally meet you in person rather than a vision” Chaos laughed as I grabbed his hand and we stood up.

“Why does limbo seem so different from all the previous times we have seen each other, even in those visions limbo was still there or at least I think it was” I questioned with confusion.

“Well it’s the effect of being ready to rebirth now we can finally open the Gate and allow you to learn all the secrets of your powers, your friends are also going through this process but with their own Gates to meet and show them the way” Chaos began walking into the forest and the trees began to form into cherry blossoms with a sweet scent in the air as I followed behind him “Our’s is the forest of cherry blossoms, the path is really nice to travel on”

“It does look rather nice ,but how exactly do I rebirth myself” I looked around to see the trees slowly sway and fill the air with blossom petals.

“Well just look at them” He held out his hand and the trees slowly formed orbs of memories out of their fallen petals “This place is the birthplace for our ritual, it’s where we can get our memories back of all the things we don’t remember as a Gate”

“They seem so happy and so peaceful it’s almost-” I tried to finish before I felt chains suddenly pull me onto a magic symbol on the floor “What the-”

“Man that act sure is a boring role all the sitting around and waiting for you to meet the requirements for you to rebirth and open the door” The figure of Chaos disappeared and was replaced with a more grimly looking version of myself that glowed a haunting green color with his eyes being a solid emerald green.

“Who are you, You’re not-” I asked failing to resist the chains pulling me against the floor.

“Oh well, Me, I am you ,but not exactly you see I am what could be considered a parallel version of you because in my timeline I am at least 500 years behind this timeline, and with a lot more death gotta say there sure is a lot of differences between the two” He seemed to mock as he formed a strange orb in his hand and walked towards me.

“What do you want, obviously that is not a gift” I glared as he stood in front of me.

“I want to create the true path of our Gate, the rebirth of True Chaos to become the entity, the form that I lack the means to do so myself due to there not being any Gates in my timeline; so in order to fix that I plan to have you merge with all of your past selves, about 13 more all with their own lives and own deaths, all of which have been changed to my liking all they need is a vessel to combine all of their paths into” He held the orb over my back and pulsed the energy into my back in a pain I remember all too familiarly “Remember this? It’s the pain you feel if you activate your Gate as you are now, It is only the beginning though you will have to endure it about 13 times over”

“What, kind of True Chaos would benefit us so much” I lifted my head as I felt blood drip from my back from what I can guess are imprints of the orbs seal carving into me “Why all of this?”

“Why? Well isn’t it simple? I need to recreate our Grand Ancestor the one we as Gates descend from. Eos has lied to you from the beginning ,oh, wait you know him as Lysander such a deceptive person he is. He was using you as a means to stop our ancestor from awakening ,because he knows just how much power would come from that. You should really wonder why is it that magic was obsolete from this world before 5 years ago when it flooded in. He has been using you from the beginning to fuel his petty goal to keep us locked away from the truth and left to slaughter each other while his ‘favorites’ live in a comfy little reality all to their liking” The grim expressionless face looked down at me before he pulled out a scalding knife and stabbed it into my back “Well not anymore”

I feel the burning sensation sink into my back as I saw flashes of memories of which I could see his memories. All of them screamed with murderous intent and smelled of thick blood as he made his way through the other timelines to invade and corrupt the endings. I felt the burn sting me back into reality ,but this time the scenery had changed to an abstract and hollowed version of itself with trees blurred black and the sky hazed a gray tone. I felt another memory lunge forward as I felt blood drip around my arms and images of my fallen allies stacked up below me; dread consumed me. I felt arms of hell drag me down further into the corpses and laughs of the damned mock me for my punishment. I felt my throat become silenced as I tried to reach up into the skies and call for help ,but the only thing I saw was more corpses until it all went black. 

“Ugh-” My vision hazed as I felt my breaths slow and the knife stab the center of my back.

“I can’t have you passing out on me, now I have no clue why our Grand Ancestor was ripped apart but I can tell you this he was the strongest of the deities able to forge Gods themselves. It seems though this method could have been averted but when I came here your artifact of your Gate was missing so I had to resort to such methods. We need to change history, go back in time with the aid of Him and make the world as it should have been with the right ones, to let the traitors get the justice of the one they could never hope to stand a chance against” He laughed as he licked the blood from his knife even scalding his tongue but seeming to not even wince from it.

Once again I feel my eyes haze into darkness as I feel a sudden dread of falling, suddenly I saw a flash and awoke on a field of open grass. I stood up to look around to see nothing but an endless plain of grass with no other landmarks in sight. I looked to my sides then behind me to find myself suddenly stabbed through the stomach. Blood burned from my mouth as I looked at the blade as it was drawn from me by Britt as her laugh grew louder while I fell to my knees she seemed to gloat over my impending death.

“Yes! I’ve won, how about that huh, how ironic too it was the same place I slaughtered our dear friends Kendall and Val” Britt smirked “I enjoyed their suffering as I twisted them between the gears of the engine”

“Britt...why” I felt my voice break.

“It’s so pathetic they called out for you to come “save” them too bad you were too far as they reached their hands out I gracefully took the chance to rip the hope from their lives” Britt shoved the blade firmly through my heart as it's sharp slice stung through me she whispered “Trust is a stupid thing, only the strong survive there is no need for people like you, like David, you two rely too much on tedious things such as emotions I hope your descent to hell is just as painful as the rest of the groups”

As I fell face down I suddenly bursted awake once more but this time in a rainy temple in what seemed to be the mountain of ancient monks. The thunder roared and crackled outside making the building shake to life.

Fire smoke staunch the air I felt its embers seep into my eyes making it hard to breath and see. I covered my face with my arm the best I could as I made my way through the hall. In a split second part of the roof collapsed and grazed my back with a searing burn followed by a sudden collapse in the floor too quick for me to react to. I felt my foot touch the searing heat from below and pulled it up into a nail. I got to the floor and carefully pulled my foot from the nail then continued down the hall.

“Is anyone here?” I hollered out.

I was only answered with a distant cracking and falling of a wall and the floors of the hall cracking beneath my foot steps. The air became heavy with a stench of burning flesh as I heard muffled screams from a distance. I picked up my pace as I began to enter a wide space with three separate room doors closed tight.

“Hello, there” I called out hearing the screams much closer “Don’t worry I’m coming in to save you”

I tried opening the door but right as I touched the handle the searing metal handle burned my fingers. Gathering up the strength to continue onward without wasting time I firmly grasped the handle and pulled as hard as I could until the door cracked open enough for me to fit through. The burn was a sensation of pure agony the second I let go of it and stepped back to slip through the crack.

“Chase...” I heard a moan “You came back”

“Lilithia?” I gasped and took her hand as she laid on the floor with sears across her body “What happened?”

“Seems we were wrong...She came after me anyways” Lilithia held a detonating device in her hand “At least we can keep our promise to Brie and Winona to never let her go free, I can hear her in the temple all we need to do is this”

“I don’t fear it, if it is for the best I’ll stand by you until the end” I put my hand over hers and laid her head on my lap “So what do you think your dream will be of tonight?”

“I think-” she coughed harshly before continuing “I think maybe this time we will see mommy again and she can welcome us all home”

“I’d like that” I smiled looking at her closed eyes for a moment and then pushing the button to see a flash of light and I felt at true peace.

Sudden rush of air pushed into my lungs as I felt a light behind me begin to shine and my vision regain as I laid on the floor covered in blood. Crackles of energy echoed around me as my hearing slowly came back from a loud ringing that pulsed with my heavy heartbeat. I could faintly hear voices around me and the shape of Deus and Lysander come into view and flashes of colors pass them in the background as the earth shakes. 

“Chase-” Lysander could faintly be heard “Open your eyes,Chase stay with us”

“He is merging with his Gate too quickly” Deus turned me on my back and laid my head in his lap “Chase listen to me I need you to blink once if you can understand us and two times if you can’t”

I blinked once and felt my head tilt back from a dizzy feeling. Lysander pushed my sleeves up and I could see the others fighting behind him as I tried to keep myself from falling back unconscious. I could see both of their eyes filled with determination hiding a wall of concern as they kept me aware.

“Okay good now listen to me I have your entity right here but you needa allow him to open the path otherwise you're gonna go back to the memories you were in for eternity” Deus took off both of his necklaces and placed them in my palms.

“I’m sorry, Chase I didn’t know this,please don’t-” Lysander tried to manage as I glared at him with as much anger as I could.

“You used me” I felt the urge to speak as it pained my throat to avoid saying more “Was it even real”

I closed my eyes and opened them to find a gentle spirit in front of me whispering hymns of my old friend. The surroundings were high in the clouds next to mountains as I saw the constellations pass by in a sped up motion. Hues of blue and green filled the skies of aurian lights that passed overhead. I smiled and reached my hand out to my old friend as if seeing him after a long departure, I felt a burst of energy enter me as the two artifacts cracked and released a new awakening.

“It’s nice to finally see you again Chase I’ve missed you even if we had to meet like this the other you has allowed us to finally meet and merge as an entity” I heard Chaos say in my mind.

“I’m glad to finally see you again too Chaos I feel him, his anger, his strength” I felt warmth come to my hands “Let’s regain our memories and change our path this time to save our friends”

“Yes” Chaos smiled “Let’s save the Gates and our timeline, Let’s change the fate of humanity together once more”

My hands began to glow with the formation of tattoos my right hand glowed blue with tattoos more time based and runes that wrote the laws of time, my left hand glowed green with tattoos of symbols and patterns for space with runes writing the laws of space. The tattoos spread through the rest of my body as I felt them pulse and then form all over me. My clothes took on a more refined look as I felt my old ones get stripped away. My fingerless gloves reappeared refined and my button-up shirt turned black changing the pentagram into a blue colored chaos star symbol and my trench coat reformed into a light weight military trench coat which changed my whole appearance into a new standing. I now had a necklace with a glowing light of my two gems inside with a golden glass case and chain. I gained new jet black pants and military grade boots to my knees as I finished my rebirth and felt a surge of energy as I closed my eyes and opened them one more time to clearly see the others now fighting the ghost of me. 

Britt now had a silver color to her hair which was held at the side with a violet rose and wore a one-piece dress that went to her thighs and hung on her right shoulder. It was various complimenting shades of violet and pink to match the rose with golden embroiderment, that hung a piece of her dress on her left side go down to her ankle of faded and light pink that could easily be mistaken for white. She wore a forearm gauntlet on her left arm and her whole right arm was a loose side of the dress with under armour. Two white strips of leather hung off her right shoulder embroidered with pink and violet petals. She now wore a full stocking on only her left leg and matching plated boots. Her eyes now gleamed with hues of violet.

Kendall’s hair now shone white as snow and curled to the left side of her face with a hairpin of diamonds that flowed with her hair to put the right side of her hair behind her ear. She wore a armored dress that had silver plate shoulder guards that thinly went onto her arms and a thin silver plate chest piece that shined brilliantly with a skirt that tilted elegantly to her left leg. Behind her trailed her white undercloak of her armor which drape to her ankles. She wore silver plate boots that went to her knees that seemed to glimmer with her footsteps. Her eyes matched her hues of white and silver which embroidered her armor and clothes alike. Hues of blue blended with her under cloak and her clothes to make it seem like a misty design.

 

Brie had a much darker appearance to her clothes she now had a black eye patch covering her right eye and her hair let loose to freely hand over her new cloak. Her cloak was slim and loose it draped her arms and hung down to her ankles with gems attached to the bottom corners that glowed a vivid red. Its sleeves and edges held red embroiderment and matched her under dress which went to her mid thigh. Her under dress gave the appearance of a high class style which changed her look into seductively deceiving. A vividly red tattoo of her Gate went down her thigh to her knee. She wore high class boots up to her knee that had inch sized heels. 

Luna let her hair hang over her ocean blue dress that hung over her left shoulder with blue thin plate armor that held onto her thin chest plate and draped two strips of silver ribbons. Her arms were covered by a loose part of her dress that drifted in the wind and attached to her shoulder fabrics of the under dress. The dress split on her right side exposing her leg and showing her blue plated boots. Her outfit teamed with an ocean blue tint.

Lindsey now had black short hair to her neck that hung to her left side of her face and laid on her left shoulder. Her new arraignments were silky black that exposed her chest tattoo of her Gate. It covered her arms with full sleeves attaching to her middle finger, it hung tilted toward her right leg and draped behind her down to her ankles. The dress filled itself full of white embroiderment and on the inside it had bright hues of blue. She wore a necklace with an obsidian gem that gleamed. She wore her usual knee high boots that now were strapped with a more refined material to make them shine.

“Where are the others?” I looked to see Deus still holding me as he had before my rebirth “I’m sure of Kendra, and Lilithia following us”

“Seems they didn’t need to rebirth their Gates, they already had them fully unlocked because they were practically born with them somehow” Deus explained as they fought the visage of the evil me off with flurries of combined attacks and blocks. 

“Chase I-” Lysander began as he looked at me with regret.

“We can talk later” I stumbled to my feet with Deus helping me stand steady looking at the ghost of a man.

“So it seems you’ve lost imposter” Brie walked in taunt to him “I’d retreat if I were you I’m feeling nice today but don’t make me change my mind cause I’m not afraid to fucking obliterate you”

“Oh, it is not I who lost” The imposter looked at me with a smirk “He may not have been fully changed into what I planned but now he is something even you can’t control Eos, isn’t that right Deus”

“What?” Brie and I looked at Deus “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll know in time won’t they Deus?” The imposter chuckled as he vanished as whispers echoed with a chill “Won’t they”

“What does that mean?” I asked Deus.

“Well I’m not sure now is the best time to explain” Deus looked around “It’d be better to explain it to you in a more secure place”

“I can agree to that-” I felt my heart drop and a sudden dizziness overcome my head “I don’t feel so well”

“Chase?” Lysander came over and held my face in his hands and I felt his grip.

“Quick hold him up we need to get him out of here” Rize could be heard faintly in the distance.

I felt foggy as I slipped in and out of consciousness with voices blurring between each other eventually being overcome by a sleepy feeling and I sunk into the void of my thoughts. I could hear Rize, Allen, and Lysander in the distance ,echoes as they grew closer their voices hitting me all at once. In a flash all at once I saw a flicker of the past memories once more before lunging forward in realization of them to find Lysander sitting next to me looking worried as I brushed my hair out of my face and wiped away the cold sweats.

“You’re awake!” Lysander cheered and hugged me before slowly letting go.

“I see limbo has disappeared” I said as I watched Lysander sit back in the chair and bounce his leg nervously.

“Yeah, we left it with the help of Rize and Allen finding a way out for us” Lysander nodded “They really helped us out”

“I see well I’m glad they did” I took a breath to look at Lysander “What is it?”

“Well, um, what happened back there” Lysander cut himself off.

“Lysander, I wasn’t me at the time, something else was there before I could even react I was already speaking” I looked him in the eyes to almost see him shed tears.

“ That bastard tried to control you like a twisted puppet next time I see him I swear I’ll kick his ass” Lysander thrilled with determination.

“I’m sure you will” I looked at him with a crack of a smile.

“I’ve been wondering” Lysander poked his index fingers together while blushing “Do you wanna go on a date sometime with me”

“Hmmm? Where is this coming from?” I looked at Lysander still embarrassed expression as he tried to make eye contact.

“Well Britt said that we are going to Yellowstone and there might be a couple good spots for us to go to and I was sorta curious as to if you wanted to go” Lysander smiled and looked at me nervously.

“Well as long as you do your best to get the best places I don’t-” I was unexpectedly cut off.

“I’ll do my best I promise you!” Lysander held out his pinky finger “I’ll swear it for you”

“Pinky swear?” I cracked a smile.

“Pinky swear!” Lysander laughed.

Down the stairs we could hear Britt call up to us about it being time to go as I noticed all our stuff had been moved from the room. I shakily got out of the bed and almost slipped ,but was caught by Lysander and met with a smile. It filled my heart with warmth I felt a swarm of happiness well up that seemed to have almost disappeared entirely. 

“Want me to carry you down?” Lysander swept me off my feet and laid my head against his chest.

“Well guess I have no choice about it anymore huh” I looked at him before looking out the windows as we headed out the room “The sky is such a pretty color today it’s so full of colors that I haven’t seen in so long”

“It sure is, huh” Lysander walked down the hall and began down the stairs “Isn’t this how we met? Under a starry sky”

“Yeah, except back then there was no way I would have seen this” I yawned as we approached the truck and saw everyone inside already asleep “Long day for them?”

“Oh yeah, believe it or not Rize and Allen spent 3 hours trying to keep you stable and then we all had to pack up everything in a couple hours it was not fun without you” Lysander sighed as we boarded the truck and we laid down on the packed bed mattresses.

“Oh I bet it wasn’t for you ,everyone else probably rejoiced” I laughed light heartedly.

“Oh my god I fucking swear! I told you he was a pain in the ass” Brie could be heard talking to Rize as she boarded last and closed the truck doors.

“Okay, but like at least I actually did something unlike you who thought sitting in a lawn chair reading Britt’s diary was productive” Rize snapped back.

“Don’t be fucking rude” Brie slapped Rize’s arm “I was merely doing some research about her lady kinks with David”

“How vile,woman, you have got to get a better hobby, though I’m not much better I spent the last couple days trying to snoop in on Lindsey and Luna I swear they are definitely a couple the two are so perfect it’s painful to not think of them as a couple” Rize admitted.

“We both nasty, snooping hoes” Brie shrugged her shoulders “Oh well now we can be nasty ,snooping hoes together”

“Two is better than one” Rize continued as I looked at Lysander and we silently laughed.

“I can’t believe we are off to Yellowstone” I said with a sigh “It’s been a long time”

“I can’t wait to see all the stuff you guys have there” Lysander whispered as the truck began moving and the road rumbled under us.

“I wanna get some sleep with you though before the sun rises or we reach Yellowstone whichever comes first” I yawned and felt Lysander pull me close and wrap a blanket around us.

“Good night” Lysander kissed my forehead and closed his eyes as I closed mine. 

“Good night” I smiled with a feeling of uncertainty next to Lysander hearing Chaos saying one last thing to me. 

“Deus is the one”


End file.
